A Thousand Words
by SimpleWickedWriter
Summary: This is a companion fic to my other story New Meanings to Old Words: Safe and the subsequent sequels. It is a collection of one-shots/snippets in the life of the characters as captured in Polaroid photos. If you haven't read New Meanings I would highly suggest taking a peek there before reading this. Rating for Language and themes
1. Intro: Years Gone By

**A Thousand Words**

_This is a companion fic to my other story New Meanings to Old Words: Safe and the subsequent sequels. The stories told here are one-shot snippets that involve the characters introduced there as well as the canon characters from the series. _

_I would highly suggest reading that fic first before entering into this bit of fun. But if you don't, I hope you still enjoy._

**Intro: Years Gone By**

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

"_But sometimes, if you don't take the time to sit down and write down those words, that shit's just gonna fly out of your brain. Then all you're left with is a bunch of photos of people you can barely recall the names of, sitting with your family and friends. Just starin' back at ya, mad as hell that you don't remember them."_

The words echoed in my mind as I sat there holding the small red child's Mario Brother's backpack sitting on my lap. We were in the den of the small house we'd been in for what felt like forever, sitting on the dusty squeaking floor boards, on a rug that had seen much better days. But it, like the rest of the furniture had become as much a part of the house as the walls around us and the floors beneath our feet.

I could hear the shuffling of feet just outside the slightly opened door, and a head poked in. Eyes sliding from me sitting Indian-style on the floor, to the four other figures settled in around me. Two on the floor in front smiling. One half sitting on the large bench of the wooden window seat, a cigarette firmly placed between his lips. The smoke was streaming out the slightly open window and his eyes were on the fields outside. The other was settled into the large arm chair in the corner, across from me. Her legs tucked up under her as she rested her head on her knees.

"You alright?" the voice from the doorway asked with a bit of a chuckle.

A nod was my response. A smile and a nod later and the head was gone from the door way, leaving us to our task.

I pulled one of the old battered spiral bound notebooks off of the stack near me, and set it beside me on the ground. Three sets of eyes watching me. The fourth set, moved from the scene outside to me for just a second before once again settling on the sunny skies and green grass outside.

Opening the zipper of the backpack I couldn't help but smile, it had honestly felt like a lifetime since this thing was last opened. It was filled to the brim, the photos barely contained as I pulled it open. Flicking my eyes up to the two sitting anxiously before me I tipped it over and dumped the photos on to the floor between us.

"Alright," I said putting my hand to my knee and smiling. "Who's first?" Both hands shot up and then the two figures started pushing at each other. I ran my hand down my face and slid my gaze to the chair behind me. She only shook her head and cracked a small smile.

"That's why you draw straws," a new voice said chuckling. I turned to watch him slowly enter the room followed by another smaller figure. He carried a tray laden with drinks, and an ashtray with another cigarette smoldering in it. I laughed a bit, thinking that this old room had been our group's designated smoking section for so long it was almost ridiculous. "Here," he lowered a glass to me and I grabbed it with a smile. Pointing a finger at the figure to my left he winked. "You're first."

"Awww," the other figure pouted as she accepted the offered glass.

"Deal with it," another glass was handed to the man at the window. The tray was settled to the desk and the old rickety chair was pulled out. After flopping down and tossing his feet onto the desk a hand was waved dramatically at me to continue.

I lifted my middle finger to the son of a bitch and then smiled at the boy before me, just itching to grab a photo. I finally nodded and small hands dug into the yellowed Polaroid photos scattered on that dingy old carpet.

The photo was lifted triumphantly, and the boy looked at it in confusion. Raising his eyes to me he cracked a smile.

"Is that Glenn?"

…

AN: _Okay, so I wanted to give you guys an idea of what we're doing here. Please don't worry too much about the characters mentioned in the intro. Eventually we'll get an idea of who is all in that room. Where we are.. when we are… but until then just enjoy the snippets. _

_If you have a suggestion for a snippet that you'd like me to try and write something for send it along. If I get enough maybe we'll open a forum or something to discuss. _

_Happy reading! _


	2. Glenn vs The Snake

**A Thousand Words**

_Just a note on formatting: the description of the photo will be in italics at the beginning of the story. The telling of the tale will be in third person (not first person as the intro was-'cause you don't want to give any surprises away ya know?) and will be in regular font. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Glenn Vs. the Snake**

_The sun was barely shining, an early morning photo. On the ground a tent flattened, yet showing the tell tale signs that all of the possessions were still inside by the odd shapes poking the nylon fabric. Beside the tent stood Glenn. His head surprisingly bare of the ball cap he usually always wore, his dark hair standing up in odd directions. He was hunched over, with his hands on his knees, like he was trying to catch his breath. One of those hands was gripping his good old baseball bat. His eyes were wide, and facing the camera as if he'd been called by name. The expression-that was priceless. Confusion, mixing with fear, and anger and all tangled up with an opened mouthed awe at what had just happened._

They'd been at camp for about two weeks now, and Callie had apparently developed a routine. It wasn't really a routine she particularly enjoyed, but it was one of those things that just needed to be done. Following behind the bouncing form of Gracie as they made their way up from the lake and back into camp she shook her head and smiled.

The little girl was just way too full of energy for Danny or Miles to be able to keep up with her for long. Especially when her internal clock was apparently set to four in the morning. 'A God awful time. Doesn't exist in my mind' had been Danny's muttered response the first day she woke up so early and Callie had been spotted yawning as she followed her back to camp.

Now it was the norm. Gracie would wake up, sleepily push at Callie and they would get their supplies together to take a bath. Washing up in the cool water of the lake was quite possibly the worst idea she'd ever had. Ever. But the cool water splashing over her face and the rest of her body helped to wake her up fully, and kept her alert enough to work her way through the woods with the girl.

Heaven help them if she'd have gone into the woods with Gracie half asleep, and they ran into Walkers. As it was the only people she usually ever ran into were the Dixon brothers. Either together, or just Daryl stalking around glaring at her as she and Gracie walked.

"Fuckin' traipsin' around in the woods at the ass-crack of dawn with a baby. How the fuck you survive so long?" Daryl had spat at her the first time she'd passed him. His eyes hadn't lifted from the ground as he pulled an arrow out of a small animal that she figured was a squirrel.

"Mornin' to you too, Daryl," she said chuckling. She'd smiled at him, gave him a little wave of her middle finger and pushed Gracie along in front of her leaving the redneck to grumble something after her.

Two weeks later, and this was the first day that she hadn't run into the Dixon's during her walk. And it wasn't like it was a short little skip in the woods. She and Gracie were usually out there for three hours, working their way back to camp just as the regular folks, the ones like Danny who didn't believe in four a.m., were up and moving about.

And for some reason, the fact that she hadn't seen one of both of those boys out there this morning, was sitting strange in her stomach. Her eyes slid over the little Casa de Dixon, their area, set up so far away from the rest of camp it was almost comical. There was no sign of them there. Had they gone hunting?

As Gracie skipped off ahead of her, running towards the smiling Amy, Callie let her eyes slide over the camp. The usual next step in her routine was to climb up the RV and sit with Dale for a bit, but that bad feeling in her stomach just wouldn't let her do it. She caught sight of Shane and gave him a small smile and a wave. Shane wiped a hand down his face and nodded at her stiffly, before ducking out of sight to find a shirt. Obviously he wasn't worried about anything. Not that he'd actually worry about one of the Dixon's, but still if there was trouble of any sort she knew he'd be in Sheriff's Deputy mode in a heartbeat. Callie's gaze flicked back to the RV where Amy stifled a yawn and scratched at the bridge of her nose while she bent down on one knee and smiled as the excited Gracie showed her the newest rock she planned to add to her collection.

"Problem?" Andrea said inclining her head to Callie as she walked out of the RV. It was at that point that Callie's gaze landed on her missing Dixons. Well, at least Merle. Her gaze narrowed when she realized that he was settled in on the ground next to Danny and Miles.

"No," Callie said smiling at the other woman as she walked over to where Amy was letting Gracie help tie up her tennis shoes. "Found 'em."

Andrea's eyes narrowed for a second and Callie just waved over her shoulder as she began to walk towards where the three men were gathered. Putting her hands on her hips, she came to a stop at the side of Merle Dixon. Not one of them flicked their gaze to her, instead they sat there sipping at their coffee staring ahead of them.

Staring at Glenn's tent.

"Mornin' boys," Callie said her hands still settled on her hips as she now adjusted her view to Glenn's tent. "Something interesting about Glenn's tent that I'm just not seeing?"

"Shhh," Miles said sipping slowly at his cup of lukewarm coffee. Making a face the seventeen-year-old sat the cup down and continued to stare at the tent. His feet were tucked under him, sitting Indian-style with his jittery hands tapping on his knees.

Beside him, sitting in the middle of the odd little trio Danny spared a glance over at the boy. He sipped from his cup, slid his eyes over to Merle who met his eyes with a bit of a grumbled laugh at Miles. Both men then returned their eyes to the tent. Danny's legs were drawn up so that his knees were high and one arm rested on them, while Merle sat similar to Miles. Only Merle's hands weren't tapping on his knees, they were just calmly resting, one holding a mug.

Callie's brow furrowed, her gaze slipping to Glenn's tent again, and then back to the men. Jutting one hip out she let her eyes slide around camp, nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. Except the odd congregation she was currently standing by.

"Where's Ben?" Callie asked letting her eyes again slide around camp. The boy could usually be found one of two places, either by Danny's side, or slowly circling the Dixons. For some reason she couldn't quite explain, the boy was apparently fascinated by the two rednecks. She figured it had something to do with them constantly skinning one animal or another. Curiosity, plain and simple.

"With Daryl," Danny replied, shooting his thumb over his shoulder. Callie turned and spotted Ben a few steps ahead of Daryl, who was carrying what she figured was his own cup of lukewarm coffee. Daryl's hair was askew and she figured that he'd actually been sleeping this morning. Odd as it may be after two weeks, she figured even he deserved a chance to sleep in every once in a while. At least until Ben had apparently been sent to wake him up with a cup of coffee as his only buffer.

"Did you send that boy to wake that poor man up?" Callie looked at Danny who was shooing her with his hand as he fiddled with something and hushing her. She squinted and realized that he was playing with Ben's Polaroid camera. "What the fuck are you three up to?"

"Hush it up, jail-bird," Merle snapped, reaching up and grabbing her by her wrist. He pulled hard and she came down to her knees beside him. Waving his arm around, in the same shooing manner as Danny as he hissed out a 'shh' at her. Callie's mouth opened to say something but Merle shoved his cup of coffee into her face. "Here, drink this, and shut your yap." He looked over at her as she slowly reached up and took the cup from him. "Show's 'bout to start."

Merle's eyes were lit up like a fucking kid's on Christmas and she had no real response ready for him. She watched in awe as Merle flicked his hand in front of Danny at Miles. The boy didn't remove his eyes from Glenn's tent, that same strange excitement showing on his face. He picked up his coffee and handed it over to Merle's waving hand. Merle took the cup, while Danny smacked at Merle's hand that was apparently blocking his view.

She heard the rustling of dirt behind her and looked back in time to see Ben bound over and hop in between Danny's legs. Settling in, Danny draped his arms over the boy, holding the camera out to the excited little boy. Ben shot her a look of pure rapture, his smile wider than she'd seen it ever get.

Another sound and the feel of someone bumping her knee, had her turning to her other side. Daryl grumbled something that sounded a bit like 'sorry' as he ran his hand first over his head. He scratched idly at his dirty hair, then down his stubble covered cheeks, and she saw him shift his gaze to her and rethink lowering that hand to scratch somewhere else. His legs were set up like Danny's, forearms on his knees as his coffee dangled between his knees. He stifled a yawn, squinted his tired eyes at the tent they were all situated in front of and then shifted his eyes to her.

"The fuck we doing?" Daryl grumbled to her, his eyes barely meeting hers before he turned them back to Glenn's tent and took a sip of his coffee. He made a face and shook his head a bit. "Fuck that's bad."

"Hush up," Merle spat at his brother. He bumped his shoulder into Callie, who fell into Daryl's shoulder.

"Oh, fuck no." Callie spat at Merle, shifting to get up. She was not about to sit there and be a human ping pong ball between the Dixons.

"Hush, woman." Merle grabbed her arm and settled her back down.

It was then that it began. What these men had apparently, she found out later, been waiting damn near two and a half hours to see. It began with rustling. The sound of Glenn scampering out of his sleeping bag at a damn near impossible speed.

Callie's eyes shot to Danny who was smacking Miles in the arm to get him to be quiet as the boy began to chuckle. Merle then smacked Danny's shoulder with that shit-eating grin on his face as he did it. Callie's gaze slid to the only other person she knew was as lost as she was.

Daryl raised a brow at the three men beside her then met her eyes. He shrugged, sipped his horrible coffee and set his eyes back on the tent. Finally, giving up, Callie settled herself on the ground Indian-style and lifted Merle's cup of coffee to her lips. Sharing Daryl's sentiment from before she made a face.

There was a keening sort of noise coming from inside the tent, followed by a very loud string of " Fuck. Shit. Fuck. Oh God!"

The sound of rustling grew more intense and you could actually see things hitting off of the nylon fabric of the tent. Glenn was apparently throwing things now. Callie's gaze slipped to Daryl who was staring confusedly at the tent. She slid her gaze to the fucked up trio beside her and noticed that even Ben was mimicking them now. Each and every one of them had their hands over their mouths, holding in laughs.

Callie was just about to open her mouth to say something when Daryl's elbow bumped her shoulder. She shifted her gaze to the tent and watched in awe as it came fluttering down, the poles popping out and scattering. Glenn could just be seen now, sliding out from under where he'd apparently ripped a hole in the side of the fabric, which had apparently been the downfall of his tent. He army crawled out as the fabric of the tent finally settled in a heap.

As Glenn struggled to his feet, the men beside her Daryl now included worked to hold in their laughter. She firmed her own lips, and put her hand over her mouth to do the same herself. The poor man looked like he'd just fought off twenty Walkers. Beside her Merle was jabbing his elbow into her arm, repeatedly.

Glenn made it to his feet, his entire body hunched over, hands on his knees. Still brandishing his bat, apparently the weapon he'd used in his battle of the unknown. Glenn's breathing came out rapid and shallow, like he'd just run a marathon.

"Problem Glenn?" Danny's voice rang out. At that moment Glenn looked up at them, and Danny gave Ben a bit of a nudge. The flash went off and the sound of the Polaroid picture being taken and then dispensed sounded.

"The hell?" Glenn said his brow narrowing in confusion, before shaking his head. He pointed back to the tent. "There's a fucking snake in there."

At that point they all lost it. Danny fell backwards onto the ground he was laughing so hard. Beside him Miles rolled on to his side, clutching his stomach and rolling. Merle let out that wondrous loud whooping laugh of his and smacked at Danny beside him.

Callie couldn't contain it anymore, and even though she tried to feel bad for Glenn, the look on his face was just…well it was fuckin' priceless. She held her coffee tight as she bent forward and laughed. She snuck a look beside her to see Daryl chuckling into his cup. Obviously holding it in front of his mouth so that no one would actually be able to see him smiling. She smirked over at him, and he caught her eye for and held it. He actually had a nice smile.

"Did you put a snake in there?" Glenn was pissed now, and when Callie looked up he was still standing beside his flattened tent. He was pointing at it with his bat and glaring daggers at Danny as he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position.

Danny, Merle and Miles each pointed an accusing finger at the other, while Ben merely chuckled as he looked at the photo in his hand. Danny peeked a glance over Ben's shoulder and started laughing again, falling backwards on the ground. Glenn started towards them, but a rustling in the tent had him practically jumping a foot away from it and circling it with his bat pointed.

"That was horrible," Callie said between chuckles.

"That was fuckin' funny, girl." Daryl said also chuckling and sharing a glance with his brother. Merle nodded his head and again pushed Callie into Daryl's shoulder.

By this point the entire camp was curious as to what was going on over at Glenn's tent and everyone was watching. A mix of amusement and pity for poor Glenn on all of their faces. Callie waved her hands in surrender and took one final sip of the horrid coffee before setting the cup back down by the still laughing Merle. She placed one hand to the ground to help herself up, and was surprised to find a dirty hand shoot into her field of vision.

Daryl had apparently had his fill of poor Glenn's misfortune, as well. She took his hand and let him help her up. She nodded once, and he rolled his eyes chuckling as Glenn stormed up to them. Callie watched Daryl turn and leave, then brushed her hands on her pants, knocking the dirt off of her butt.

"You seriously put-," Glenn's eyes were shooting from Merle to Danny to Miles then back. "That was a big fucking snake? What if it bit me?" His gaze landed on her and she put up her hands.

That one sent them into peals of laughter again.

"Fuckin' Walkers all around and you're worried 'bout a itty bitty snake," Merle said between laughs. Glenn's eyes widened as they shifted from Merle to Callie.

"Don't look at me," she tilted her head at the laughing men on the ground as she raised her hands. "Look at the fuckin' Three Amigo's down there." For some reason that made Danny and Merle start to crack up again. Merle slapped Danny hard in the back of the shoulder sending him forward.

At that point Shane sauntered up, hands on his hips as he surveyed the scene. His eyes met Callie's and she knew he was in full on Sheriff's Deputy mode. She shook her head. Of all the things to be worried about Shane chose a bunch of people laughing during the great Walker apocalypse. He raised his brows at her, then looked to the disheveled, out of breath and livid Glenn, who was shaking his head at Danny.

"Everything okay?" Shane asked to Callie who was watching Danny get to his feet. He moved close to Shane and put an arm over the dark-haired man's shoulder showing him the photo in his hands. Shane's brow narrowed, but then a small smirk rose on his lips. At the bottom of the photo, Danny had scribbled the words: _Glenn vs. the Snake_. Shane tried to hide his smile when his eyes settled on Glenn, who at that point threw his arms into the air and stormed off muttering, but he failed miserably.

"Just a bit of harmless fun, officer." Danny said still chuckling as he smacked his hand off of Shane's shoulder.

The tent made that rustling noise again and Glenn yet again stepped two feet over while walking. The laughs that followed him as he marched towards the RV echoed for a few nights.

AN: _There we have the story of Glenn vs. the Snake. If you've read the companion fic then you heard mention of it. Hope you enjoyed it!_


	3. Danny's Favorite Game

**A Thousand Words**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Danny's Favorite Game **

_Dusk, maybe. The light was dim, and the bare hints of the fire in the pit could be seen. The angle was low, obviously taken by someone who sat lower than the rest of the adults. Smiles graced the faces of everyone, in one of the few group shots that had survived in that backpack. It wasn't everyone at camp. Just a few. Shane sat beside Lori, his arm slung over Carl's shoulder as he ruffled the boy's hair. Carl was smiling and holding onto a spoon. Lori was watching with a small smile, her spoon almost to her mouth. Beside her Carol and Jacqui were smiling down at Jenna and Sophia, both with spoons in their mouths. Next to them Glenn sat, his brow raised at someone off camera, the handle of the spoon sticking out of his mouth. Behind him Amy was smiling and pushing down on one of his shoulders saying something, as she handed the jar to the person off camera._

It was honestly just Goddamned ridiculous the shit you could accumulate in a car in such a short amount of time. Danny wiped a hand over his head looking at the three small plastic tubs, three carry-on size suitcases, and various grocery bags that he'd taken out of Nina Dennison's VW Bug. Along with that there was the large tote that had been strapped to the top rack. The Bug was long gone now, picked apart by the odd mechanic named Jim and good ol' Dale a little over a week ago when Callie first brought it back, and then pushed out of camp.

Callie said it was a fuckin' Walker magnet. And remembering the way she'd looked when she got back from getting it. Remembering the hand that had been stuck to the windshield. He believed it.

Danny put his hands to his hips and in an overly dramatic way jutted out a hip. Flicking his gaze to the lazy ass kids sitting not far off, he put two fingers to his lips and whistled. Miles looked up with a raised brow, but like the teenager he was, he didn't get off his ass.

"Hey," Danny waved his arms. "Get your ass over here and help me out." Miles slowly got to his feet, then looked over to where Jenna was sitting with her back to a tree just outside of the small 'school area' that Lori and Carol had established. Amy was sitting nearby showing Jenna some of the books she'd had with her from college. Just as Miles was about to whistle to get Jenna to come over Danny whistled again. He shook his head and waved the boy over.

"It's her shit," Miles said quietly as he came over, still a bit confused. "She should help."

"Leave her be for now," Danny said, looking at the girl who had looked up now and was staring at him. The pain of losing what was left of her family was still new. A week was not long enough to get over something like the loss of your only remaining family as an adult. And especially not when you were fifteen. "She'll come over if she wants to."

"Whatever," Miles said, glancing over his shoulder at Jenna and then back at the stuff scattered on the ground. "All of this came out of the Bug?" He surveyed the stuff and looked back up at Danny. Danny smirked at the kid before him, seeing more and more of himself in Miles each day. "How the hell did they fit three people in there?"

"That's why they use Bug's as clown cars," Danny said again settling his hands on his hips and staring at the stuff. His eyes shifted up to the top of the RV where Callie was standing with Dale and Glenn. Her eyes shifted down to him and he waved, earning a shake of her head. She turned back to Glenn, no doubt to discuss their plan to head into Atlanta for supplies in the morning. A plan Danny wasn't quite happy about.

"So, why didn't you do this when we first took it out," Miles said crouching down and opening the small tote nearest to him. Miles looked up and saw Danny shoot him a look. Miles again shot his gaze over to where Jenna was watching them with wide eyes, completely ignoring Amy who was valiantly trying to get her attention off of them. Grimacing Miles returned his gaze to the tote and began to pull out boxes of ammo and set it on the ground. "She's gonna have to get over it."

"Some people take longer to do that," Danny said as he opened a sleek black suitcase. Him included. He'd liked Mike and Nina, they were good kids. But he wasn't going to tell that to Miles. Miles was a pro at distancing.

Looking at the contents of the suitcase he couldn't help but smile at the organized chaos held within. Mike's suitcase. He looked up at Miles who was now staring at him. Eyes wide and a bit unsettled. No doubt wondering what was wrong with him that he'd been able to move on from the loss of his entire family so easily. Danny bit at the inside of his mouth and smiled at the boy.

"And some people don't, Miles. Some people can't move their feet under the weight of that pain, and some people can. Some people bounce back quick," he tossed a rolled up pair of socks to the kid, and laughed as Miles caught it one handed with a smirk. "And others need time. And hell, some people never fully move on. Any way you work it is perfectly normal. At least as normal as anything can be in this fucked up world."

Miles nodded his head, his eyes straying back to where Jenna sat. Her eyes met his and he felt himself smile at her slightly before shaking his head.

"She doesn't need a push," Miles said quietly, taking out the last few boxes of ammo that they had. His eyes settled on the canned food still in the tote. "She just needs a reason to pick up her feet."

Danny's eyes lifted from the contents of Mike's suitcase, his fingers stilling on the shirt he was pulling out. He stared at Miles for a few moments, before a smile worked its way onto his lips. He nodded his head and then shook it, before returning to the suitcase and pulling out the shirt.

It was a huge fucking shirt. Strange how easily you could forget exactly what someone looked like after only a week. Mike was a big man, not husky but built like a brick house. Like Shane, only taller. Danny set the shirt aside for the former sheriff and moved on to the next item. He held up the black leather vest, and smiled. He knew exactly who would fit this. Setting it aside with the shirt he pulled out a magazine and chuckling he raised his brows and showed it to Miles.

"Fuck yeah," Miles said grabbing for it. Danny pulled it away and wagged a finger at the boy. "Oh come on, Callie wouldn't let me grab one at the last stop. You know I got a collection." Danny chuckled and thought about what the inside of their tent looked like.

"Nuh uh," Danny said shaking his head. He pulled out a couple more magazines setting them in the pile with the shirt. "I'm giving these away."

"Man," Miles said, but chuckled anyway. What did he care. He had enough pages taped up inside their tent to last a lifetime. Digging his hand into the tote he pulled up a can of creamed corn and made a face. "I never thought I would say this, but I actually miss corn on the fuckin' cob. This shit reminds me of my mom's cooking." Danny looked up and raised a brow, and Miles shrugged. "She sucked. Real bad." Shaking his head the boy lifted another can out of the tote, grimacing at the baked beans. "But it didn't really matter, you know? We'd all sit there and try to smile, until she would finally laugh and put her hands up in defeat. Then dad and Steve would go out and get a pizza or something while I would help her pry whatever the fuck it was she'd tried to make off the dishes."

Danny watched Miles as he spoke so easily about his now dead parents and brother, the memories seeming to lift a weight off the boy even as they added to his heavy heart. Miles continued to go through the tote, until finally he lifted out two jars of peanut butter. Miles smiled at Danny, raising both of his brows and waggling them.

"Give those here," Danny said reaching out and taking the jars. Smiling at the unopened jars, he lifted his gaze to Callie on top of the RV and then moved it around the camp, the people milling about doing chores to keep themselves busy. "I got me an idea."

"Is it wrong that I'm a bit scared by that grin," Miles said chuckling as he watched Danny toss the peanut butter to the side with the magazines and the shirt.

"Not at all," Danny said shaking his head and chuckling. "Just means you're paying attention. Grab the spoons. We'll play after dinner."

* * *

Callie rubbed at her wrists, itching at the sweaty raw skin. Moving the metal cuffs this way and that as she dumped the remaining contents of her canteen on them to try and soothe the welts. Emptying the canteen she shook it out and tossed it into the back of the Hummer. Crouching down she started rummaging through her backpack, getting it set up for her trip to Atlanta with Glenn.

The boy had tried to pull some bullshit about working better alone. She'd then pointed out that the last time he'd been 'working better alone' she'd had to take a Walker that was about a foot away from him. He'd conceded at that point, but begrudgingly. And she held him a bit higher in regard for it. Glenn was a smart, resourceful guy, and she didn't have any trouble thinking that he probably did work better alone.

That damned bleeding heart of hers, that damned part that just kept picking up strays, couldn't in good conscious let him go alone.

Camp had quieted down now. Everyone was finishing up the small little dinner that they'd been able to make up, and sat around the campfire. Little groups had formed, people talking quietly about absolutely nothing important. She spotted all of her kids, settled in around that campfire, mixed in nicely with this other group. Safe and sound.

Her eyes narrowed. Well, everyone but Danny. Her head lifted then as she heard a soft rustling sound near their tents. Her hand went to the knife that she always wore on her right thigh, and she shifted just a bit to see what was making the sound.

"Hey, Cal!" Danny, a bit too happy of a Danny for her liking, exited his tent ass first. He pulled along one of the small totes from the Bug and her brow narrowed a bit more. "Get your ass over to the fire. We're gonna play a game!"

"Danny," Callie began getting to her feet and brushing her hands along her tattered jeans. "I don't think anyone wants to play one of your games." The shuddering thought of the game of name that tune that they had played long ago, well before they picked up Miles came to mind. They were stuck on top of a box truck about fifty feet from the Hummer in the parking lot of an abandoned gas station, surrounded by about twenty Walkers pawing at them. Each right answer earned them the next shot at the closest Walker. It was a downright sick thing to do, but it had taken the edge off of what had otherwise been a fuckin' bleak situation.

With a shudder she watched him continue to pull the small tote with him towards the group. Curiosity getting the better of her she crossed her arms over her chest and followed him. Her gaze slid to Miles, who she knew had helped Danny go through the supplies from the Bug. The boy pulled out a bag of spoons, and shook them at her as Danny rummaged around in the tote.

"Alright, folks," Danny said his back to the group as he continued to rummage. "Time for what has been dubbed in the past as my favorite game."

Standing behind Ben, who was looking up and smiling at her now as he fiddled with his camera on his lap, Callie's eyes went wide. Danny's favorite game was only played with one thing, and that was something she loved.

"Oh God," Callie said, a look of pure rapture on her face as Danny pulled the first jar out and tossed it to her. "I thought we were out."

"Mike and Nina were apparently hoarding it," Danny said with another shake of the jar.

"Maybe they were just tired of playing your game?" Jenna's voice echoed around the camp and both Callie and Danny looked to her. She was smiling, a half smile that she didn't really want them to see.

"No way," Danny shook his head pulling out the other jar. "And for that. You have to go first." He turned to Miles. "Get her ass a spoon."

At this point, the rest of the group at the fire was watching in a bit of silence as Callie and her misfits smiled. Miles was on his feet now, passing out spoons. He gave Jenna hers as Danny opened the jar and handed it to her. She sat down next to Sophia and grumbled as she looked at the peanut butter.

Sitting her ass on the ground right between Ben and Merle Dixon Callie twisted off the lid of her own jar. At that point, she didn't wait for Miles to get to her. Instead, she just stuck her finger into the peanut butter. Lifting her finger she, looked at it briefly then shoved her finger in her mouth and closed her eyes. Ben giggled beside her and Gracie bounded over from her seat next to Dale.

"Shit, jail-bird," Merle said leaning over and leering at her. She put her finger back into the jar and slid her gaze to him. "Girl, I could sit and watch you eat that all night. Better yet, you and me could have some fun with that, huh?"

"I am not letting you ruin, peanut butter for me, Merle." Callie said sticking her finger in again. Removing her finger she looked at it for a second and then surprising everyone, she shoved her finger into Merle's open leering mouth. He leaned back, obviously shocked out of his own mind, her finger leaving his mouth with a pop. Beside him Daryl sputtered out his remaining beans and smacked at his chest coughing.

Merle's mouth closed around the peanut butter in his mouth, and his jaw worked this way and that as he savored it. His eyes closed just a little, and when they opened they narrowed on her before sliding to Miles.

"Give me a fuckin' spoon, boy." Merle spat out as he finished swallowing the peanut butter. Callie chuckled, raised a brow at Daryl who was still shoveling his beans into his mouth, and took another small fingerful of peanut butter out. Miles laughed as Merle snatched the spoon from his hands, and then turned to hand one to Daryl. Daryl just glared at the boy as he continued to eat, his eyes watching as Callie taunted him with that bit of peanut butter on her finger, before shrugging and popping it into her mouth.

"Here," Callie said reaching out for the remaining spoons as Miles finished his rounds. "Leave it here. He'll change his mind." At that point Merle made a grab for her jar, and she pulled it away. "Uh uh. That's not how you play." She gave the jar to Ben who scampered off to sit in front of Danny beside the tote.

"Bitch," Merle spat smacking his spoon off of his knee. Everyone now had spoons and were patiently waiting for this game to start.

"So how exactly do we play this game?" Dale asked chuckling as he looked at the spoon in his hand and then to Danny.

"Well," Danny said smiling. "The game's pretty simple. You have to say one thing you miss. And it can't be anything sad. If you say something sad you skip your turn. Gotta be something completely inane or ridiculous. Something that means something maybe only to you. Then you can have you some peanut butter. " Callie shook her head and smiled.

"We ran across this gas station a ways back," She said thumping her spoon against her knee as she spoke. Answering the unasked question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue. "Place had been ransacked, but for some reason who ever did it had left all this peanut butter behind. Only the day before I'd said I missed peanut butter sandwiches." She shook her head.

"Thus the game was born," Danny said smiling at her. "Fuck we stayed up most of the night playing that. Best one was Mike missing his porn collection."

"Ick," Jenna said eyeing Danny as her hand worked around the jar. "Don't remind me. He was downright wrong to say that." Danny laughed and waved a hand at Jenna, she shook her head and leaned over. "I'm not really-" she cut herself off and handed the jar to Danny's waiting hands. "I don't want to go first, Danny."

"Alright," Danny said taking a spoonful. "I'll start. Got me some prizes too." He lifted the peanut butter filled spoon and looked at it before sending the jar over to Andrea. "I miss shopping." At that the group scoffed, or laughed and Danny just shook his head.

"Shopping," Andrea said taking the jar from Danny's hands as he ducked into the tote that Ben was looking in. "Seriously? Even I don't miss shopping."

"Funny," Danny countered as he pulled out a big black cloth something from the tote. He looked over at Jenna and her eyes went wide as she recognized it. "You okay if we give this stuff away to people who need it?" Her eyes were round, and Danny waited.

"God, please do," she said finally, and Danny laughed.

"You see, Andrea," Danny said turning to the blond woman as she sniffed at the jar in her hands before digging in. "I miss shopping, because I miss buying clothes I like. I miss having the option to pick something out from a rack, instead of ransacking some poor fools luggage." He shifted his eyes to Jenna who smiled sadly. "Hey Merle, think fast." He tossed the black thing to Merle, who reached up and caught it easily.

"The fuck is this?" Merle asked lifting the garment. A big black leather vest with zippered pockets on either side stared back at him.

"That is my brother Mike's stupid biker vest." Jenna said smiling, sadly. Danny noticed that it was that same smile that Miles had on his face when he was talking about fuckin' corn on the cobb. "God I always hated that thing. So did mom. Idiot thought he was such tough shit after he bought his first motorcycle. He didn't realize he looked like a douche wearing that vest over his button shirts."

"Only thing I ask is that you burn that one you got on," Danny said pointing a finger. "Thing's covered in dried blood and god knows what, and smells actually worse than you half the time. So do us all a favor, and burn it. Or bury. Or do whatever the fuck you want, just stop wearing it."

Merle snickered and chucked the garment over his shoulder. Beside him Daryl's eyes roved over to Callie, and caught her ram her elbow into Merle. Daryl couldn't help but think of what a strange group this rag-tag bunch was. Bunch 'a kids, a guy who couldn't keep a straight face to save his life, and a woman who had no trouble interacting with anyone. Not even a couple of dirty rednecks with mouths to match.

"Andrea?" Dale jabbed the woman and she smiled digging her spoon into the jar.

"I miss books." Andrea said. "Actual books, you know. Not the crap in the RV." She passed the jar and smiled. "Sorry Dale."

"Oh, no problem." Dale took the jar. "I didn't really expect to need to feed the minds of complete strangers. Next time I will prepare better."

"Books! We've got books." Danny said reaching in the tote. "Well, not the type of books you're looking for but apparently wee-bitty Nina was a mommy porn addict." Danny pulled out about five paperback romance novels. He looked at the covers and shuddered as he handed them over to the now laughing Andrea. Amy settled in beside her and grabbed for one with a wide smile.

"We've also got a lot of magazines." Danny pulled out a small stack, mostly Fortune, Time, and a few National Geographics. But in the mix Daryl and Jim spotted something that Danny had picked out just for them. "A couple of Car and Driver's here," Danny handed one to Jim and tossed one over to Daryl. "Had to pry that outta Miles' death grip, so be thankful."

Everyone laughed and the jar continued on. The kids missed silly things, like kickball, and ice cream. The adults sillier things. "Swimming in a lake," Lori said taking her spoonful to raised brows. She smiled at them. "For fun."

"Yeah," Callie nodded. "I miss running for fun too."

The laughter continued, and the round table game became a whoever game as they started to reminisce about all sorts of things. Movies. Cars. Dating. Shoes brands. TV shows. Restaurants. Only Dale and Carl missed turns, both of them mentioning people they missed. Danny let Carl have another try and when he spat that he didn't miss his teachers Danny let him have the whole other jar of peanut butter. By the fifth round they had made it to food.

"Sittin' on my front porch sippin' cold sweet tea on a hot night," Callie said licking at her spoon. "Good times."

"Cold beers, jail-bird. That's what you need on a hot night." Merle said in return. She lifted her spoon and saluted him. He'd put on the black leather vest now, tossing his old one behind him.

"Lots of cold beers," Daryl said nodding his head and looking at his spoon. He'd entered the fray at round two, not being able to hold out when Merle waggled the jar under his nose. He only said one or two word answers and never really explained when people shot him a questioning look. But Callie smiled to see that the introvert was actually playing.

"You know what I miss," Glenn said as Amy came up and stole the jar from him. She stood behind him and put her spoon in and all eyes slid to him, it was getting low. "I miss Chinese food." The entire group started laughing, and Glenn's brow rose at them. "What?"

"But I thought you were Korean," Carl said, which earned him a headlock hug from Shane. The former sheriff brought his hand up and ruffled Carl's hair, and the group continued to laugh.

"So?" Glenn said shifting his gaze around.

"It's okay, Glenn I understand." At this point Amy put her hands on Glenn's shoulders as Glenn placed his spoon in his mouth. The blonde smiled as she reached out and passed the jar to Daryl. "We all do, right?"

"Whatever," Daryl shot back, grabbing for the jar. Just then the flash of Ben's camera went off and everyone looked to the boy as the familiar sound of the Polaroid being processed echoed around camp.

The next evening, when Callie and Glenn had returned from Atlanta - both of them exhausted, yet luckily still alive- was the first time that Daryl called Glenn 'Chinaman'. It had annoyed the exhausted kid, and he'd shot the redneck a look and huffed off, ranting about being Korean, and hating the fact that he had to deal with stupid racist rednecks at the end of the world. Callie had caught Daryl's smirk in the dark as he sauntered back over to where he and Merle were set up.

It had taken Glenn a long while, and a glance at that photo some time later to actually figure out why the man just couldn't ever seem to get it straight.

AN: For those who have read the companion fic, Danny plays this game with Jim when tied to a tree in "Walking On Broken Glass". Hope you enjoyed the little swing at the end there as to why Daryl always refers to Glenn as Chinaman.


	4. Technological Wasteland

**A Thousand Words**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Technological Wasteland**

_It was probably the strangest photo of all. The one that would be completely discarded if not for the memories associated with it and those two little words scrawled in Callie's handwriting along the bottom. Technological Wasteland._

_The photo was simply a shot of the dirt ground surrounding the old tree stump that the large CB Radio base had been placed. All that could be seen were the shoes of the people standing around. A bat, settled close to one person's leg. Danny's leg, as identified by his well worn black Chuck Taylor's. And a bunch of broken bits of plastic, screens, and teeny-tiny keyboards._

* * *

Technology had changed and shaped the world around them, so much so that even now, Amy was fiddling with a cell phone that hadn't worked in months. Danny watched as Andrea walked past her sister, shaking her head and making a grab for the phone. Amy pulled it away with a smile and slapped at her elder sister's hands.

"Stop it," Amy said laughing as Andrea made another grab for it. "I'm just –" the younger woman looked down at the phone in her hands and shook her head. "I just like holding it."

"You're being ridiculous," Andrea said with a sigh as she plopped down on the ground next to her sister. Placing her elbows to her knees she slid her gaze behind her to where Dale was speaking with Jim. "You let her charge it again didn't you?"

"There's no harm in it," Dale said in return, Jim shaking his head and smiling as Andrea rolled her eyes.

Danny bit at his bottom lip, his hand fiddling with the cell phone still sitting in his pants pocket. Right along with his now useless wallet, and car keys. Habit was habit, and in the world that they had lived in before, habit had included cell phones. Cell phones were the wind up watches of their generation, the way to connect and stay connected to the world around you. For the first few weeks of this real-life horror movie Danny had spent hours up on the top of the Hummer swinging his cell phone in the air, lookin' like an asshole with a lighter at a concert, hoping for a signal.

Hoping for it to ring.

Hoping that he'd get a text from one of his friends back home in Savannah saying all was good. That his ex would call, or his son, and say 'Hey, we're safe. We're alive. We love you.'

Watching Amy fiddle with that phone in her hands he saw that same hope still kindled in her eyes. That same unsettling feeling that the blank screen always gave him when he would pull it out at night and still hope that it would ring. Even now. Months later. Long after it had died.

Danny let his eyes skim the group. It was mid-afternoon, a lazy day in camp apparently. Amazing how lazy days could still exist even at the end of the world. His eyes hit off of Miles standing with Carl and Ben each of them taking turns smacking at the air as Glenn pretended to pitch to them. Inspiration struck with a hard blast and immediately he was up on his feet.

Andrea watched a bit apprehensively as Danny sauntered over towards where she, Amy, Callie and little Gracie were sitting by the RV. He was holding a bucket, and had a wide smile on his face. Callie looked up from where she was helping Gracie to learn how to tie on her boots and caught Andrea's eye.

"Yeah," Callie muttered giving Andrea a smirk. "You've definitely figured him out, if you're worried about that smile. That smile is deadly."

"Uh huh," Andrea said watching as he came to a stop near Amy. She tilted her head up to him, but his eyes remained locked on Amy still fiddling with her phone. "I've known way too many men with smiles like that."

Amy's head tilted over to the bucket being held out to her, and then up to Danny's smiling face. She smiled back, a little bit of a blush on her cheeks. Andrea's gaze slipped to Callie who rolled her eyes heaven-ward giving Gracie a pat on the butt and sending her off to play with Sophia and Eliza.

"Can we help you, Danny-boy?" Callie said, getting control of the conversation before Danny could work the smitten Amy. His eyes slipped to her, and he knew what she was trying to do. He smiled wider and shook the bucket at Amy.

"Drop it in, darlin'." Danny said returning his smile to the now confused Amy. Her eyes had squinted down so far, her brow furrowed so tightly that her face looked ridiculously squished. And as she shifted that gaze from the bucket he held, to Danny's face, and back again a few times he tried very hard to hold in the laugh.

"Uh, drop what in?" Amy said the blush leaving her cheeks as confusion took over. She shifted her gaze to Callie and Andrea who were looking just as confused. Danny smiled again, and began digging in his pocket. They all watched as Danny pulled his little cell phone out of his pocket and waved it around for a bit before tossing it into the bucket. "Uh?" Amy turned towards Callie for a bit of help.

"Sorry, Amy," Callie said placing her arms on her raised knees as she smiled up at Danny. "I'm at a loss for this one."

"You're in it to," Danny said pointing a finger. "Whole damn camp is!" he said loud enough to catch the attention of the people milling about near them. Then turned his attention back to the three women looking at him like he had grown an extra head. "So dig in them cute little jeans pockets and pull out the phones that I know for a fact are in those back pockets." Callie snickered and shifted while Andrea raised a brow. "Oh, please," Danny said to Andrea with a smile. "Don't even pretend you're surprised that I've watched your ass as it waltzed around camp. Red blooded southern gentleman right here. All about the look but do not touch rule."

Callie laughed loudly and pulled out her own phone. She held it in her hand, relishing in the familiar weight, flipping it over and over in her palm. She looked up at Danny, holding that bucket with that smile of his, and finally she gave in.

"Alright," she tossed her phone into the bucket and looking over at Andrea and Amy shrugging. "I'm too damn curious not to play along."

Amy held a bit tighter on to her phone, and watched in awe when Andrea pulled hers out. Reaching forward Andrea held her phone over the rim of the bucket, and held Danny's gaze.

"No more watching my cell phone as I walk around camp," Andrea said holding the phone over the bucket. Danny's head began to nod and she let it go.

"Now I'll be able to enjoy the ass that was hidden behind it," Danny lifted both brows and ducked away slightly when Andrea smacked at him. He once again put the bucket to Amy, waiting with a smile. Callie reached over and took the phone from the girl, and let it slip into the bucket as she got to her feet. Amy's eyes went wide and Danny chuckled as he pulled the bucket from the girl's reaching grasp.

"Come on!" Amy yelled getting to her feet now and following behind Callie and Danny. Andrea chuckled and followed along watching as Danny began collecting cell phones, and other things, iPods whatever people were holding on to that Danny felt was just fuckin' ridiculous.

Andrea put her hands to her hips as she watched the man, wondering where he got this apparent font of optimism. She looked over at Callie who was locking her arm around the arm of Miles and playfully tugging him towards the large tree stump that served as their radio base station. The entire group was an interesting mix of sad stories, really, really sad starts to this new existence. Such sad starts that it probably would have ended them if they hadn't found each other. The small little family unit they'd created had helped them to survive, and as she watched Danny put his arm around Miles' shoulders and pull him into a playful headlock, Andrea hoped that bit of peace that these people found would be able to rub off a little on everyone. She shifted her attention to Amy beside her. Sliding her arm into her sister's she pulled Amy forward.

"Well come on," Andrea said smiling as Amy looked at her with that bleak and dismal 'the world is ending look'. "We have to see what he's got up his sleeves now."

"He's up to no good," Amy said earning a snicker from Dale who had joined them in their trek towards where almost the entire camp had now settled.

"Well, Amy," Dale said replacing his bucket hat on his head as he smiled at the girl. "I think that one goes without saying."

Andrea snickered and tugged Amy along with her. The kids had settled on the ground around the stump and Danny had set his bucket of 'useless' technology on the ground near his feet. Andrea bit her lip when Danny shouldered the bat he was holding and sent that killer smile of his around to his assorted crowd. She slipped her gaze to Callie, and the women shared a smile. Danny Murdock and his killer smile, making all the girls swoon.

"Okay, folks," Danny said, his voice loud and so sure. Teacher-mode, that's what Callie always called it. Danny had reentered teacher-mode and was about to give them a lesson. With a bat. Callie's eyes slipped heavenward and she hid her smile behind her hand as she settled Gracie between her legs on the ground. Beside her Ben was fiddling with his camera, changing out the batteries from his stash in his backpack. "We're gonna get a bit of frustration out the best way I know how." Callie shifted her gaze around the assembled group as Danny continued.

"And that would be?" Lori asked chuckling a bit from where she stood behind Carl. Carl looked up at his mom and smiled and she reached down and ruffled his hair.

"We're gonna beat the shit out of stuff." The statement was so ludicrous, but said with such honest conviction and sincerity that instead of laughing people just stared in amazement. It wasn't until Danny pulled out the first cell phone, his own and placed it on the 'sacrificial tree stump' that people started laughing. Especially when he wound up and smashed the fucking thing.

"Oh my god!" Amy said, her eyes wide. Beside her Andrea was shaking her head but chuckling along with Dale.

"Oh come on Amy," Danny said shouldering his bat again and swiping the remnants of his phone off of the stump to the ground. "Honestly, do you think that thing is ever really going to be useful again?" Amy's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, watching as Danny walked up to her with that bat of his and that killer smile. Callie ran her fingers through Gracie's hair and smiled as Danny held out the bat to the girl. "Come on, darlin'. Don't you wanna smash something? Think about it. Wouldn't it just feel damn good to not worry 'bout that phone and whether the people stored in there are alive, and just worry 'bout you."

Amy looked up at Danny, eyes wide with some sort of emotion that Callie couldn't place. Worry for friends lost. Sadness for the people she couldn't reach. Fear for what it would mean to lose the last connection she may have to them. Andrea reached out and put her hand to Amy's shoulder. The sister's locked gazes for a minute, and then Amy reached out and took that bat from Danny. She pushed him out of the way, and he moved back with his arms raised in surrender as she sauntered up to the bucket.

Her phone was offered up on the altar, and she lifted that bat. She took a deep breath and smashed the fuck out of it, and the entire group cheered for her. She turned around with a smile as wide as the state of Texas and Callie couldn't help but watch Danny proudly cross his arms over his chest as he watched her walk back. Amy held the bat out to Danny and he took it with a smile that matched hers.

"Alright, who's next?" Danny swung the bat around as Amy plopped contentedly down on the ground next to Dale. The elder man put his arm around her and gave her a fatherly hug, watching as Andrea snatched the bat from Danny.

This went on for a good while, everyone taking their turns smashing the last connection to the technological supremacy of the world they once knew. Taking out the frustration of their imposed camping prison on those tiny dead phones, that now littered the ground around the tree stump. Callie was holding on to Ben's camera while he and Gracie took turns whacking at her cell phone. Her eyes slipped up when a crunching of the dry dirt caught her attention.

Merle Dixon was smiling like the big fuckin' jackass he was, and sauntering up to their group. Following behind was Daryl, carrying a string of dead squirrels over his shoulder.

"What's all this?" Merle asked, coming to a stop next to Callie, Daryl settling in behind her. She shifted her gaze around to look at the younger Dixon who raised a brow at her. "Y'all drunk?"

"Nope," Danny said coming to a stop beside Merle and crossing his arms over his chest. "We're smashing our phones as a big 'Fuck you' to the apocalypse."

"Sure ya ain't drunk?" Daryl said quietly, causing Callie to snort as she continued to fiddle with the camera in her hands.

"Come on boys," Danny said elbowing Merle, and earning a bit of a confused scowl from the larger man. "You got something you wanna smash?"

"Sure," Merle set down his rifle and dug into the pocket of his cargo pant. Callie and pretty much the rest of the group watched in fascination as Merle Dixon pulled out a cell phone. He smacked his hand backwards hitting Daryl in the chest. Callie shifted her eyes backwards and watched as Daryl dug into his own pant pocket and pulled out a phone. Danny chuckled when both brother's looked at their phones and then up at the now quiet crowd.

"What the fuck's the matter with you people?" Merle said as he looked up. Danny slapped a hand to the back of the big man's shoulder and chuckled.

"I think they were all expectin' you boys to pull out a couple 'a tin cans tied together with string, Merle ol' buddy." Danny said and Merle scowled at him, before glaring at the group.

"Fuckin' morons," Merle muttered as he again smacked at Daryl's chest, earning a smack back from the younger man still staring at the phone in his hand.

Callie's hands fell to her lap as she watched Daryl slowly move past her and begin to follow Merle up towards the stump where the bat was resting. Just as he passed her she couldn't help it any longer, and she sat forward just a bit.

"Is that a fuckin' blackberry?" her voice carried to him, and he stopped in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder and glared at her.

"So?" Daryl grumbled, looking back down at his phone. "It was a work thing. Got a problem with that?"

"No," Callie put her hands up and chuckled at the look on his face, wondering idly what he did for a living. "No problem here."

Daryl slid the string of squirrels off his shoulder and tossed them at her feet causing her to move back and glare at him, before a smile broke out on her face. The Dixon boys smashed their phones, and when Daryl worked his way back towards her Callie leaned forward, her hand on the Polaroid near her feet.

"A work blackberry?" she said and he lifted his gaze from where he'd crouched down to pick up his string of squirrels. He stared at her for a minute, chewing the inside of his cheek, before his eyes lowered to his dead animals.

"Never even got to use the damn thing," he mumbled, so low she almost missed it. Merle then walked up behind him and shoved him hard in the shoulder, sending him careening towards Callie. Daryl's hand shot out and landed atop hers on the camera and the familiar flash and sound of the picture being processed.

"C'mon, brother, got some fuckin' squirrels to tend to. You can flirt with jail-bird later." Merle joked sending a wink over his shoulder at Callie.

"Fucker," Daryl grumbled, his hand shooting off of hers. He got to his feet, and Callie chuckled when he wiped the hand on his pants a few times. As if trying to rub the feel of her off of his palm. He didn't look at her again just walked on past and smashed his fist into his brother's back when he caught up.

Callie reached down and picked up the photo from the ground, smiling at the clear view of the carnage they wrought, and everyone's feet. Danny's Chuck Taylors front and center with a bat stood up next to them. At that point, Danny slumped to the ground beside her and looked at the photo.

"Odd picture," Danny smiled and Callie rolled her eyes, then smiled as she pulled the ballpoint pen from the front zipper pocket of Ben's little backpack at her feet.

"I like it," Callie said putting the photo on her thigh and scrawling two words along the bottom. Danny snickered at the words and took the photo when she handed it to him. Getting to her feet, Callie placed a single kiss to his cheek. "You're a good man, Mr. Murdock. Fuckin' nuts. But good."

Danny waved her off, and sat staring at the photo. Amy settled in next to him and nodded her head before slapping his shoulder and starting off on a tangent about how he was going to have to buy her a new phone when all this was over.

AN: _For those wondering about Daryl's work blackberry it will be touched on in another snippet. _


	5. Merle Dixon: Babysitter

**A Thousand Words **

_This one's for AngieInWonderland…hopefully it gives you the little dose of Merle you were wanting._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Merle Dixon: Babysitter**

_A bright sunny day at the Quarry. The Dixon's little camp area can be seen in the background. Sitting off to the side is Merle, head down peeling off his socks with a disgusted look, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his usual white wife beater and black leather vest. Callie can be seen smirking down at the man, holding a bundle of clothes and holding out a hand, waiting for something. At the foreground is a very pale looking Ben, shirtless but smiling just a bit. He is scrubbing at a large pair of combat boots with a toothbrush._

* * *

Callie was sitting on a log, one elbow resting on her knee hand propping her chin up, while the other sat tapping idly on top of Ben's Mario Brother's backpack sitting on the ground beside her. A tiny smile of disbelief was lifting the corners of her mouth, and her head was shaking back and forth very slightly.

Not even the sound of footsteps stopping beside her, or the sound of the person plopping down on the ground took her eyes from the odd scene.

"What's up, Cal?" Mile's asked leaning forward and reaching for Ben's backpack. Her fingers fell away, as he tugged it to himself and zipped it open pulling out the camera and beginning to fiddle with it. Miles lifted his eyes to the woman, who was still smiling very slightly and shaking her head. His eyes narrowed and he poked her. "Callie?"

"Shhh," Callie said waving her free hand idly at the boy. "You're gonna ruin it." She let her hand fall back to her knee and tilted her head just a bit, still not looking at him.

"Ruin what?" Miles asked, his gaze slipping forward to where she was staring. His brow furrowed for a moment before he smiled. "What the fuck is going on over there?"

"Merle has decided to teach Ben how to skin and gut a squirrel." Callie said, her voice delighted as she again shook her head.

"That really a good idea?" Miles asked confusedly, his gaze slipping back to the scene not far off.

"I already tried to warn him," Callie said shrugging. "I was told to stop being a mother-hen and go sit my pretty little ass down. Take care of some cookin' or cleanin' or some other shit while Merle made a man of my little boy."

"Oh really?" Miles said snickering and flicking his gaze back to the odd little scene playing out before them.

"Yep," Callie let the 'p' pop on the end of that word and watched as Daryl walked up behind his brother, looking down over his shoulder. Daryl's eyes slipped to the boy sitting on his knees while Merle talked waving his knife around and then slipped up to her. She smiled back and watched as Daryl lowered his attention to the other tiny figure standing on the other side of Merle, and she smiled wider when Daryl mumbled something down at his brother.

"Fuck off, boy." Merle railed at Daryl waving his arms around, knife flying around him and causing Daryl to back up. "You wanna be a bitch then you can go sit over there with jail-bird." Daryl's eyes again slipped up to her and she lifted her chin from her hand just long enough to wiggle her fingers at Daryl, before replacing her chin to that hand. He furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair before letting his gaze again slip over to the other figure standing beside his brother.

Shaking his head, Daryl made his way over to where Callie and Miles were sitting and stood behind them. He didn't say a word, simply crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the scene. Callie lifted her hand from her leg and waved it over her shoulder at the man standing there.

"I already tried," Callie said idly a laugh following. "I figure he kind a earned what's comin' now."

Daryl looked down at the woman who was now peeking at him over her shoulder. Them pretty hazel eyes of hers glinting with a bit of mischief that he had trouble not smiling at. He bit at the inside of his cheek and grunted in return, and they all turned their attention back to Merle. They were close enough, and Merle was enough of a loud-mouth, that they could hear his words as if he were sitting right in front of them.

"Now, look here boy," Merle said waving his knife. "This shit's important. This is gonna make a man outta ya. Keep ya from bein' just like the rest a them bitches, that can't seem to figure out how ta put their fuckin' shoes on right without some computer or some shit tellin' 'em just how ta do it."

Daryl heard Callie snicker and the boy beside her let out a loud laugh as he slapped her shoulder. He looked down to see her shakin' her head, obviously a bit amused by Merle's language choice when dealin' with a seven-year-old. But unlike the rest of the momma's in this fuckin' she wasn't up on her feet throwin' some silly hissy fit over it. She just shook her head and let it go. Daryl smirked, returning his gaze to his brother and the boy sitting wide-eyed beside him.

He remembered when Merle taught him how to skin a squirrel. It was almost fuckin' word for word. Daryl slipped his gaze to the woman sitting on the log. He remembered not too long ago overhearin' that Grimes woman and Callie talking as they passed by his and Merle's camp.

"That boy's gonna have a very colorful vocabulary," Lori had said shifting her eyes towards where he and Merle were sittin', arguin' 'bout something. The boy had been close by sitting near their little fire pit, smilin' pretending he wasn't listening. He'd slipped his eyes up to watch the women walk by, and actually caught Callie's eyes on him before they slipped to Lori.

"Yeah," she'd said with a smile. "But it ain't gonna be because of those two. Have you heard Danny and Miles get going. Fuck," she chuckled and shook her head when Lori laughed. "Trust me, those two are not the bad influence that people make them out to be." At that point Merle's smacked his dick with the butt end of his knife and had him cursing out a string of obscenities that had both women looking back at him. He looked down at his chuckling brother, shaking his head and then to the boy that had given up his ruse of not listening and was staring wide-eyed at him.

"What the fuck?" Daryl lashed out smashed his fist into Merle's shoulder and sent his elder brother into peals of laughter.

"Keep to thinking with the head above your fuckin' waistband, my brother. Fuckin' end of the world ain't the time for that other shit," Merle got to his feet, smacked the back of Daryl's head and walked over to shoo the boy away from his 'fuckin' fire pit'.

Daryl's eyes stayed on Callie watching as she smiled slowly and again shook her head when Ben took a step back from Merle. He didn't have no one to look out for him the way Ben did. No one to worry 'bout him gettin' a 'colorful fuckin' vocabulary'. Hell he didn't have no one but Merle. His kin. His brother. His blood. Part of him was still a bit confused by the woman, sitting there lookin' after a bunch a brats that weren't even hers.

Another part was too busy trying to shut out the shouts of that fuckin' head below his waistband when he looked at her to give a shit about something like that.

"Uh oh," Miles' voice caused Daryl's eyes to slip back up to Merle. "He's backin' up.

"Merle ain't gonna let him." Daryl said gruffly earning shocked stares from the two people sitting on the ground in front of him. He raised an annoyed brow and put his attention back on Merle.

"Where you goin' boy," Merle grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him closer. "This is the good part." He settled the boy back on his knees and then slipped his eyes to the other tiny figure. Ben's itty-bitty baby sister standing at Merle's other side, her head almost level with Merle's. He lifted his knife in a chiding motion at the little girl. "You stay back behind that line, poppy-seed. Ain't gonna get no blood on that there purty little dress a yours. Or momma-hen'll pinch herself a shit-fit."

Again Callie snorted and shook her head, this time running her hand over her brow and rubbing. Daryl shook his head, and caught her eye when she again slipped her gaze over her shoulder at him. She raised her brows at him before returning her gaze to the scene. Daryl lifted his thumbnail to his mouth and bit at the dirty fuckin' thing to keep himself from smiling. She'd warned him. Daryl'd warned him. Callie was right, the man done dug his own grave on this one.

"Alright," Merle's voice boomed out and he gave a pat to Ben's shoulder before putting his eyes to the squirrel sitting between his feet. "You gotta be sure to cut real deep." Merle put the knife into the squirrel and Daryl saw Callie shut her eyes that smile just lingering on those lips of hers as she shook her head.

It happened pretty quick. The boy tried to keep his eyes on what Merle was doing, tried to be strong. Daryl could see it in the way he squared his tiny shoulders and held tight to his knees from where sat. The boy's face had gone ashen pale, his lips firmed in a line as he desperately tried to control what he wanted to do. But, like they all knew it was gonna be, it wasn't the boy that Merle really shoulda been worryin' about.

Poor little Itty-bit was just not the type a baby girl to want to watch something like that, nor was she the type to be able to watch.

It started as a tiny little sound, a huff, a sigh, an itty-bitty moan of dismay. Callie was pushing up to her feet now, and Miles was shaking his head and laughing as he held tight to the camera in his hands. Callie let her gaze slide to Daryl, still standing with his arms crossed over his chest staring at his brother. She shook her head and smiled when he looked at her, and dusted her hands over the back of her jeans.

"Ya warned him," Daryl said stiffly and she just nodded in return as she started to make her way slowly over.

"What's the mat—" Merle's eyes lifted from his work on the squirrel, its innards now on display. He looked first at the ashen faced boy who's eyes were so wide it looked almost painful. His mouth turned up in a sneer, and his gaze slipped to the little girl standing beside him. He let out a huff of a breath just as the little girl lost her lunch all over his lap. A millisecond later the boy was turning and doing the same thing all over Merle's boots. "Son of a bitch!"

Merle's hands went up to the air. He tossed his knife behind him towards their tents and then ran his hands over top of his head and down his face. He peeked through his fingers at the sound of approaching footsteps and snarled when he saw Callie's smiling face. She put her hand to Gracie's back and settled on her knee by the girl. She shared a silent look with Merle, saying nothing as she lifted the sundress from the little girl's body. She wiped at her tiny mouth with the fabric, and dried the girl's teary eyes.

"Hey Amy," Callie called out catching the blonde as she walked towards the RV. "You mind taking Gracie in the RV and getting her cleaned up."

"Sure," Amy said smiling and coming close. Her smile fell to that look of disgust when she looked down at Merle Dixon, a squirrel with its guts loose between his legs, and vomit on his pants and shoes. "Oh my-" she put her hand over her mouth and put the other one to the bare shoulders of the little girl now holding her little tummy. Callie gave Gracie a peck on the head as she stood up and gave Amy a nod to head off.

Callie looked at Ben who was now wiping his own mouth with the bottom of his t-shirt. She tossed Gracie's dress over her arm and put her hand out to the boy. "Off," she wagged one finger in an upward movement and Ben lifted his shirt over his head and handed it to her. She looked at the boy and tilted her head to the side slightly, regarding him with what most would call a 'mother's look'. "You okay?"

"He's fine," Merle practically snarled. "Boy just lost his lunch. Daryl did the same fuckin' thing when I taught him." Callie let out a little laugh and both she and Ben tossed looks over at where Daryl still stood behind the flat out laughing Miles.

"Oh yeah?" Callie said smirking at Daryl who flipped her off in return. She turned back to Merle and gave him a bit of a nod.

"Yeah," Merle said starting to unlace his boots. "And he's gonna learn just like that bitch did." He tossed his boots towards where Ben was now sitting on the ground and lifted his gaze to Daryl. "Daryl, get your bitch ass over here and get that boy his tools."

Daryl shook his head and uncrossed his arms, walking over to where Ben was sitting. Ben watched Daryl slide into the tents behind them and come back with a toothbrush. Daryl set up Ben with the boots, a small pan of water and a jug of dish soap.

"Gonna clean 'em spotless," Merle said watching as Daryl got to his feet and shared a look with his brother. "Thought he was gonna be able to do it. That's twice now I been wrong 'bout the strength of a boy's stomach."

"Maybe the third time will be the charm," Callie said quietly her eyes going to Daryl as he sauntered away aback over towards the still chuckling Miles. She turned her head back to Merle and nodded. Then a sly little smile formed on her lips and Merle's brow narrowed. "Merle, I'm about to make your dreams come true in the only way they ever will." He lifted one brow. "Take your pants off."

There was a moment of silence and then Merle let out his loud whooping laugh and Callie began to shake her head, while Daryl stopped midstride to turn around and look at them both. Merle stood up in one fluid quick movement, the quickest thing Daryl had seen Merle do since this whole shit storm had started. He was unbuttoning and unzipping his fly, smiling that big ass grin of his and Daryl was looking at the Callie in awe as she just smiled and raised a humored brow at Merle.

"Gonna get you an eyeful jail-bird," Merle was saying. "I know me some women who ain't never looked at another man without thinkin' o' me."

"Think I'll be okay, Merle." She said looking down, eyes right on the prize as Merle wiggled out of his pants leaving him in just his boxers. Merle was grabbing his pants now and tossed them at Callie who caught them with a smile. Just as Merle was about to slip off his boxers she, put her hand to the knife in the sheath on her thigh. "'Cause you even think about removing anything else, and I'm gonna show Ben a little trick with a knife my good ol' Uncle Tug taught me. You get me?" Merle's fingers stilled in the waist band of his dingy boxers and he slipped his eyes up to the still smiling woman. A slow wide smile forming on his lips.

"I like you, jail-bird. I told you that?" Merle said shaking his head and plopping back down to the ground. He grimaced a bit at the blood and vomit around him but stayed put, hands moving towards his grimy socks.

"Once or twice," Callie said smirking and balling up Merle's pants with Gracie's dress and Ben's shirt. She held out her hand, fingers wiggling as she waited for the socks that Merle was peeling off. Ben was just staring at the tooth brush in his hand.

"Get to scrubbing boy," Merle said not even glancing at Ben. Ben swallowed, and grumbled something, but dunked the toothbrush into the pan of water and slowly began scrubbing his vomit from Merle's boots.

It was at that point that Miles took the photo, his loud laughter almost drowning out the now familiar sound of the Polaroid photo being processed. Daryl slipped his attention to the kid as he pulled the photo from the camera and shook it dry. He looked at the photo and cracked up, grabbing the pen from the boy's backpack. Daryl slowly made his way over, just as Miles was scrawling on the bottom.

"Merle Dixon: Fuckin' Babysitter!" Miles yelled at Callie, photo held in the air. Callie shook her head and groaned when Merle tossed his last sock up at her head, hitting her in the side of the face.

"Go wash my shit, jail-bird." Merle said then turned his attention towards Daryl and Miles both staring at the photo. "And you. Boy you best get off your ass and outta my sight 'fore I shut that loud mouth of yours for good."

Miles chuckled and shared a look with Daryl before pushing to his feet. He ruffled Ben's hair as he passed and then moved to catch up with Callie, brandishing his photo.

"This is one memory I think Ben's gonna be pissed off we captured." Miles said as he settled into step next to Callie as she made her way towards the lake.

Daryl's eyes slid to his brother as he looked down at the squirrel at his feet. Merle's eyes lifted to Daryl. "Hey, brother mine," Merle said scratching at his cheek. "You think it's still good? I mean we can wash it."

"Well we ain't fuckin' wasting it," Daryl said making his way back towards his brother. He stopped and looked down at the boy scrubbing shoes and ruffled his hair. "You gonna wash that too, little man." Ben groaned and Daryl smirked down at him, before letting his eyes slide to where Callie and Miles had disappeared moments before.

AN: _Miles' explicative is not written on the bottom of the photo. He just had to add it in for effect. __ Hope y'all enjoyed this one. And if you have a special little moment you'd like to challenge me to write feel free to leave it in the reviews or in a PM. _

_Thanks to AngieInWonderland for the idea. I'll have to try and work up some more, cause this one was fun to write. _


	6. Books and Covers

**A Thousand Words**

_This one is for all my Daryl / Callie fans out there. A little bit of fluff for them. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Books and Covers**

_It was a strange photo. One taken by Callie, for her and her alone. Tucked away in the recess of her own backpack hidden from view. It had only made it into Ben's little Mario Brother's backpack a few short years ago when it was decided that they would try and write some of this shit down for posterity. _

_The scene portrayed was a bit far away, but showed simply Jenna being handed a magazine by Daryl. It was a rare capture of Daryl giving eye contact, very direct and meaningful eye contact. You could barely make out the telltale tilt of Daryl's jaw, indicating that he was biting at the inside of his mouth. His outstretched hand held the magazine in a death grip of unease as he extended it out to Jenna. For her part, the fifteen-year-old redhead was gazing warmly at the filthy man before her. Her fingers tentatively touching on the bottom edge of that magazine and her mouth slightly turned up in an almost imperceptible smile._

Callie had finally broken down and stolen one of the many copies of Fortune magazine that had been tucked away in Mike's belongings. It had been sitting among the many magazines condemned to the RV's make-shift library. She knew that it had been _used_ by one of the men, hell possibly one of the ladies at some point, considering its position of honor near the bathroom, but she didn't care.

She'd grabbed it just as she and Gracie were leaving for their morning constitutional. As of late, with the days as hot as they were as early as they were, she'd been letting Gracie enjoy a bit more of her bath time after their walks. Which left Callie a lot of free time while the little girl splashed around in the early morning hours.

A few times she'd been able to rope Daryl or hell even Merle into sticking around and shooting the breeze with her. She knew that both men did it for different reasons, but it didn't stop her from appreciating the fact that they still did it.

Merle, well he sat there because Callie was usually sitting in her own damp clothes drying off in the early morning sun. He sat there and pretty much just leered at her in that oh-so-fucked-up-that-it-was-borderline-cute way of his. Well, borderline cute to a girl who had spent most of her adult life working in bar and had grown quite accustomed to such looks. Merle's company reminded her of better times. Sad and fucked up as that was. The man helped to remind her of times when all she had to worry about were those dumbasses that would leer at her in the bar and getting them safely out of her bar and on their merry little way.

And to give the son of a bitch at least _some_ credit, she knew that part of him was sitting there because of Gracie. That baby girl could evoke a sense of protective spirit in anyone. Even apparently the drugged-up-big-mouth-without-a-filter-redneck that was Merle fuckin' Dixon.

Then there was Daryl.

Daryl sat there because they had a thing. A thing that was apparently filtering its way down from the top of that RV during late evening watches and smokes, and into their normal daily routine. He had a very distinct pattern to his stumbling upon them; just as he did when he would come up to sit with her on watch. Which she figured was just the way Daryl approached life. Develop a routine, and stick with it. And if anything came up that was out of the norm, add it into the fuckin' routine and keep on truckin'.

And if she thought about it further, she figured that was pretty much what he'd done with Walkers too. Wake up, kill a squirrel, take out a fuckin' Walker, get the fuck on with the day. She chuckled at that thought as she pulled out the magazine from her backpack and watched as Gracie splashed around in the water a few feet ahead.

Daryl and his morning routine. The one that had apparently consisted of him _stumbling_ upon her and Gracie in the woods on their walk had been modified to Daryl _stumbling_ upon them at the lake during Gracie's bath time. He'd tried to change that to include Callie's bath, but he'd been a few minutes early and only caught her putting her shirt back onto her wet body. She'd turned and chided him with one wagging finger, and he'd shaken his head and grumbled something about not being interested in 'scrawny-ass women with too many kids'. But she caught that telltale smirk on his face when he plopped down onto the log not far off and began whittling at the bunch of sticks that Gracie had picked up on the walk for him.

Another little part of the morning routine, and another thing that had a smile forming on her lips.

Yeah, Daryl would come upon them and plop his sweaty, dirty ass down on that log. He would set his crossbow lovingly beside him, and pick up a fucking twig, pull out his buck knife and get to whittling. Most times he would make new arrows. Other times he would idly move the blade along the wood while he sat there smoking, and peeking up at her and Gracie. He would say very few words, and nothing that ever really mattered.

Apparently the addition of the little four-year-old splashing not far off in the water caused the man to clam up. But he would chat with Callie when she would toss something back at him. Of course, she had to coax him into it at first.

"Why is it that everyone has to resort to talking about the weather when they can't figure out anything else to talk about?" Callie had asked the first time he sat there peeking over at her. How did she know he was peeking. Because she was beginning to be able to feel the son of a bitch's gaze on her skin.

"'Cause small talk is fuckin' useless, just like talkin' 'bout the weather." Daryl shot back, earning a chuckle and a glance from her over her shoulder. She shook her head and he raised a brow.

"I think it's because no one can ever agree what the fuck the weather's going to be." Callie said turning her attention back to Gracie skipping rocks.

And that had pretty much helped to establish the pattern for Daryl. The next morning, when he sat his ass down on that log, he tossed a rock towards the water to get her attention.

"Heard it fuckin' rains one out of three days in places up north," Daryl mumbled when she turned around. He was staring at the sky, but when his eyes fell back to her she caught a glimpse of the tiny little smirk that she usually only saw in the wan moonlight on top of the RV. And fuck if it wasn't a sexy little smirk in the full light of the day.

And that started a conversation about rain, which lasted longer than she'd actually expected.

Because they had a thing.

Callie began to idly flip through the Fortune magazine in her hands, glancing at the pictures and reading the article titles, her mind obviously elsewhere. Every now and again her eyes would flip up and she would catch a glimpse of Gracie splashing around and smiling at her, or flip her eyes over her shoulder to see if one of her buddies was on the way.

Her finger caught on a dog–eared page and she took the time to really look at the article. And fuck if she didn't catch a glimpse of something she never EVER would have figured on seeing.

"What you so engrossed in, jail-bird?" Merle's booming voice echoed over the little clearing. Callie jumped a bit and she closed the magazine so fast that you would have thought she was a teenage boy looking at porn. She turned back and looked at Merle, who had stopped in his tracks and was looking at her like she _was_ a teenage boy looking at porn. "Give it here." He pretty much demanded, his dirty hand shooting forward.

"It's nothing," Callie said closing the magazine and waving it around. "Just reading this really interesting article. You scared me." She waved the magazine around again, making sure his squinted gaze took in the big bold FORTUNE spelled out on front. She watched his gaze narrow on the magazine and he waved his giant paw around at her.

"Fuck you need to be readin' 'bout that shit for now, jail-bird? World fuckin' ended. Don't think the Dow gonna be comin' back from it anytime soon." Merle plopped down beside her and let his eyes slide out to Gracie for a moment before coming back to her.

"Is it wrong to be freaked out that you know what the Dow is?" Callie said gripping and twisting the magazine in her hands as she stared at the man sitting next to her.

"Y'all 'er fuckin' idiots," Merle spat, letting his gaze slip to Callie's chest, where her shirt was no doubt still clinging to her still damp body. "Lucky you got a body on you to make up for it, jail-bird."

Callie chuckled at Merle and shoved the magazine back into the bag. For once, she was actually glad that it was the elder Dixon who had stumbled upon them first. She needed some time to process what she'd been looking at in that magazine. And figured she could spring it on Daryl tonight when he joined her on watch.

* * *

She waited until he'd removed his shoes, and settled himself beside her in his usual spot. His ass on the RV roof, facing the opposite direction of camp, both knees holding up his arms as they dangled loosely in front of him. He'd lit up two cigarettes and was handing the one up to her when she just couldn't contain herself anymore.

"You know," she said taking his offered cigarette and smirking at him over her shoulder. He raised a brow but kept eye contact. "I got me this rule about books and covers. I try really hard not to judge people based on what I see." She put the cigarette to her mouth, took a drag, her eyes still on his. His brow raised just a fraction of an inch more and she couldn't help but smirk a bit more. "But you, you got this fuckin' front you put up down to an art form. And honestly it almost had me fooled." She wagged a finger at him. "Almost, Daryl."

"The fuck you talkin' 'bout, girl." He cocked his head to the side and leaned back a bit so that he could see her face a bit more. "You fuckin' drunk?"

"I've been pretty nice not to bring it up," Callie continued, and Daryl growled. He fuckin' growled low in his throat and she was smiling real big when he started to turn to face her fully. She lifted the magazine in her hands and waved it in front of his squinted, angry, confused eyes. She watched delightedly as his eyes followed the magazine and she dropped it to his lap, open on the page that had pretty much shocked the shit out of her earlier that day. "A fuckin' work Blackberry."

"The fuck's this?" Daryl grumbled, his cigarette bouncing with the words between his tight lips. His brow narrowed a bit more as he picked up the magazine and Callie flipped on the flashlight that she'd brought up special for tonight.

"That is the June issue of Fortune Magazine," Callie said with a smile as Daryl's eyes narrowed on the article. "Apparently an advance copy specially delivered, never circulated." She leaned over, her arm sliding over his shoulder and causing him to shift just a bit on his butt. "That article is talking about the newest endeavor of one Mr. John Lawrence, entrepreneur. A huge high-rise that was being rebuilt in the heart of Atlanta, to house the corporate offices of the new internet venture he bought out for his son to run." Daryl's eyes were narrowed to little bitty slits and his jaw was clenched super tight. "And that," Callie leaned a bit further over, her finger tapping on one of the three small photos on the page, while her other hand held the flashlight aloft. Her lips were right at his ear as she continued with a chuckling whisper. "That is you standing in your Sunday best on the pages of Fortune fuckin' magazine."

His eyes snapped to her, nose to nose, breath to breath. Steely blue orbs matched to laughing hazel. Callie's smile fell when his eyes remained on hers, shifting from eye to eye as if he were trying to read her. Trying to gauge what it was that she found so funny. She swallowed and his gaze flicked to her lips which sent a rush of something down her spine. She licked her lips out of habit and shifted back in her seat. His eyes followed her for a second longer than she was comfortable with so she averted her gaze back to the camp below and pulled a long drag from her cigarette, handing the flashlight down to him.

Daryl was quietly staring down at the article now, the flashlight illuminating the photo. The man shown there was almost unrecognizable as the man sitting next to her, and she'd been a bit shocked that she'd picked up on it at all. For God's sake he was wearing a button up shirt with the long sleeves rolled up on his tanned forearms, a tie hanging a bit undone around his neck. It was sexy disheveled chic. He was front and center shaking the hand of a grinning red-headed man, while a few other stood behind with big ass smiles on their faces. It was the look on his face that caught Callie's attention. The tilt to his head that was all Daryl. The squint to his eyes as he stared at the camera. Not a smile on his face, just that steely clench to his jaw that said he was only there because he absolutely had to be.

"I got the job right before shit really hit the fan," Daryl said quietly, still staring at the photo. "Guy I did a bunch'a shit for in the past knew I was hard up for some work. Put my name in with a good word, without even askin' me. Head-honcho apparently picked me, outta everyone, for his foreman." Daryl scratched at his head and puffed out a stream of smoke as he removed his cigarette. Those two fingers holding that cigarette tapped on the photo of himself indicating a man behind him, with a death grip on his shoulder. "Fucker never told me what they'd be usin' the photo for."

He continued to stare at the photo and smoke his cigarette.

"So you got a work Blackberry," Callie provided.

"And a nice little advance," Daryl said with a gruff smile and grunt. "Fat load of good it did me. Never got started though," Daryl said with a grimace. "The man in charge," he tapped the photo again indicating the man he was shaking hands with. "Never showed up to the meetings. Course whole world was going crazy by then so I didn't really think it was gonna matter." He shifted his eyes to her then for just a second. "Why you so interested?" Callie slipped her eyes to the man and removed her cigarette letting a stream of smoke rise up to the sky.

"You see that man you're shaking hands with?" Callie reached over and tapped the photo, causing his eyes to slide back down to it. He nodded once, watching as her hand slipped lower on the page to another small photo, one he hadn't even glanced at. "That's Jenna's daddy."

His eyes snapped to her real quick and then he was lifting that flashlight and holding that magazine a bit closer to inspect the photo she'd tapped. They sat in relative silence after that, and she left the magazine with Daryl when she left. He deserved a bit of a reminder that he wasn't the stupid fuckin' redneck that everyone up here just assumed him to be. Deserved to remember that he was much, much more than that.

* * *

It wasn't until the next day, when Callie was sitting on the log near the fire pit with Ben that she had this unrelenting urge to grab for Ben's camera.

"What's up?" Ben asked, as he watched her pick up the camera and hold it to her eye. He slipped his gaze to what she was pointing at as she hushed him and smiled at the far off scene.

Daryl didn't really know what to say to the girl, he just figured he needed to say something. He clenched his jaw as he watched her and bounded to his feet coming to a stop in front of her, effectively blocking her path to wherever the fuck she was headin'. He stared down into her wide startled eyes for a moment before clenching his jaw and pulling the rolled up magazine from his back pocket. He held it out to her and she stared at it.

"Callie gave me this last night," Daryl mumbled at the girl, his eyes averted. "Probably thought I needed it or some shit," he shook his head thinking about that woman and her fuckin' bleeding heart. "But I don't." Her fingers were wiggling a bit as she looked down at the magazine, and he saw the moment that she realized what she was looking at.

The hitch in her breathing, the rapid blink of her eyes as she stared down into the face of her father and brother on those glossy pages. She bit at her bottom lip for a minute before tightening her lips into a firm line. Desperate not to cry, and he suddenly felt very, very uncomfortable. Fuckin' women and their feelin's. Her eyes narrowed on the photo that showed him shaking hands with her daddy, and her eyes snapped up to him.

And then he was feelin' extra fuckin' uncomfortable.

"Your daddy was a good man," Daryl said quietly, holding her gaze and watching as she blinked back whatever tears she'd been about to shed. A tiny little smile was on her lips as she reached out a tentative fingers towards the bottom of the magazine.

Daryl thought he heard the sound of Ben's fuckin' camera going off and turned his head towards the fire pit. He saw the boy's back, sitting beside Callie on a log, but didn't see the backpack or the camera. He shook his head and figured he must'a been imagining it.

Jenna's fingers had curled their way around the magazine now, and Daryl let his death grip slide off as he raised his hand to the back of his head and scratched roughly.

"Thank you," Jenna said quietly, her eyes slipping to his.

"Whatever," Daryl said and then he trudged on past her, leaving the girl to stare at the magazine. He heard the footsteps following behind him and shook his head and kept on walking. He heard those footsteps come to a stop near the front of his truck and looked up from where he was grabbing his bag outta the bed. "Fuck you want, girl?"

"Just wondering what that was all about," Callie said as she rested her hip on his truck. She was smiling, trying not to stare, but failing.

"I figured she'd need it more," Daryl said simply as he grabbed at his bag and began rummaging in it so that he wouldn't have to look at the pretty girl giving him a look that stirred up something in his blood that he didn't want to think about. "Ain't like I need to be reminded what I look like dressed up lookin' like some kind'a fuckin' douchebag." He shrugged and she shook her head and laughed.

"You're a sweetheart you know that," she stepped a bit closer and crossed her arms over her chest. "You hide it well, but you're a fuckin' sweetheart."

He slid his eyes up to her then, the look in those piercing blue orbs reaching deep down and tingling something deep within her.

"Books and covers, Callie." He said simply as he started to move past her. His shoulder bumped into hers as he walked past and towards where Merle was waiting agitatedly for him, and she heard him say it again. "Books and fuckin' covers."

Callie watched as he slipped his eyes over his shoulder at her as he walked, and felt the sudden and almost overpowering urge to rush after him and kiss him. She slipped the photo out of her pocket, and smiled down at it, before she slipped the pen out of her pocket and scrawled those two words along the bottom.

Long days later she would pull that photo out and remember that as the first time she'd felt that urge to kiss him. Remember with a smile when he would look at her and then that picture she held, and tell her that he wouldn't have put up a fight with her if she had.

_AN: For any of you wondering this little scene fits into New Meanings between the days depicted in 'A Good Day in Hell'. The day after Callie gets the socks from Daryl. I've got a few more of these that I'd like to do. More of Callie's personal pictures, so we'll see what happens. _

_As always read, review and let me know if you've got a photo in mind that you'd like to challenge me to write. ~SWW_


	7. Red Bags A Walker

**A Thousand Words**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Red Bags A Walker...**

_and Callie Kisses Merle_

_Two pictures forever linked together by the shoelace poked through the bottom left hand side and tied in a tight triple knot to ensure they didn't come undone. 'Got to keep 'em together,' Callie had said as she tied the photos together that day. 'I'll never remember otherwise. I mean, it really just wouldn't make any damn sense.' But in all honesty it still really didn't make sense to anyone but Callie. _

_The first photo, was an eerie one. Not something that they usually took pictures of-then again it wasn't taken by the usual people. The words were scrawled on the bottom in penmanship that was ten times worse than Ben's. It was Jenna, straddling the body of a Walker. Her hands were still in a death grip on her worn green backpack which was smashed into the now nonexistent head of the Walker. Her eyes were wide, and her skin pale and covered in gore-just like the rest of her arms and legs. Honestly, the girl looked like a deer stuck in the headlights looking at the camera. _

_The second, attached for a reason only Callie really knows, showed simply Callie grabbing Merle Dixon by the sides of his face. Her lips pressed to his, his eyes wide as saucers. And standing right beside Merle was Daryl, with a look of shock on his face that was downright comical. And to this day made Callie burst out laughing when she looked at it. _

Callie rubbed at the bridge of her nose as she followed behind the strangely large crew of kids she had with her in the woods this morning. Usually it was just her and Gracie trudging around in the sticks and leaves working off the girl's overactive nature with a long walk.

But today, well today just started off _different_, and Callie was still struggling with what that really meant for the rest of the day.

Today, Miles and Danny were both sleeping off an all night poker game with Glenn, Merle, Dale, and T-Dog. The oddity of that little grouping was forever captured on film and tucked away in Callie's backpack. And poor Ben had been woken up by both men as they practically crushed him when the fell into the tent in the wee hours of the morning.

The poor kid had turned up at Callie and the girl's tent, rubbing at his eyes holding his little backpack. And while Callie had offered to let the boy sleep in her sleeping bag he had just shook his head and followed behind her and Gracie as they started off.

The other addition to the crew was Jenna. Jenna just wasn't sleeping well in general anymore and had woken from a nightmare at some point during the night. Callie had found her sitting out by the fire pit, with strange enough, Daryl Dixon. They were sitting in silence, Daryl obviously just getting off of his turn at watch atop the RV. He was whittling away at a long branch, and spitting off to the side every few seconds his eyes skipping over the girl without really looking like he was looking at her. While Jenna sat with her legs curled up to her chest on a lawn chair a good distance away, completely oblivious to the man's presence.

Callie had exited her tent, feeling a bit of a rush of adrenaline when she noticed the girl was gone. She'd opened the flap and stuck her head out and immediately caught Daryl's eye. He inclined his head just a bit as he bit back a huge yawn, instantly stilling her nerves with one simple look. She let her eyes slip to Jenna and then back to the man who was pushing up from his seat on the log near the dying fire.

She'd smiled at him and mouthed a quick 'thank you' that he waved off as he tossed his stick to the ground and trudged towards his and Merle's tents. Callie had sat with Jenna for a little over an hour at that fire, finally convincing the girl to come back to bed.

Only to be woken up an hour later by the hyper-four-year-old energizer bunny that was Gracie. Jenna had decided to come along. It was that point that poor sleep-deprived Ben had come over, and the full sounds of Miles and Danny's snoring could be heard.

"It's not like I'm going to get much more sleep anyway," Jenna had groaned as she rolled to her side and tossed her pillow at the side of the tent. "You can hear those two a mile away. I swear, they're lucky that someone is on watch or they'd probably have Walkers all over them."

Callie had smiled at the girl and rubbed at her own tired eyes as she readied the younger kids for the walk in the woods.

As they walked now, part of her was hoping that she would run into Daryl in the woods, like she usually did. She wanted to thank him properly for staying up with Jenna. It was so out of character, or at least out of the character he liked to project, that she felt this unrelenting urge to confront him about it.

A smile cracked her lips at the thought of how that conversation would go down. And it was in that single moment that she heard the rustling in the woods and a moan.

Callie stopped, her hands immediately going out and she grabbed a hold of Ben who was fiddling with his camera about a foot a head of her, and Gracie who was right at her side as usual. Her hand went to the knife at her thigh and she let out a quick short whistle along her bottom lip to get Jenna's attention. The girl's eyes were wide as she stopped in her tracks and turned just a bit to face Callie.

She had walked a good deal ahead of them, and was now slowly backtracking to where Callie and the kids were standing. Jenna's eyes were searching the heavily wooded area around them, as her ked covered feet rustling lightly in the brush. She winced with each and every crunching sound her feet made, and her hands tightened in their hold at the straps of her worn out backpack.

The moaning sounded louder, and Callie practically lunged forward pulling Jenna almost off her feet and behind her as the bushes rustled and began to move not far from them. Ben was gripping at Gracie, and Jenna was holding tight to both kids. With deft movements Jenna let go of Ben and Gracie keeping them close still, her eyes scanning around her, as she slowly worked her arms out of her backpack. Watching, waiting for Callie to give her the signal to take the kids and run.

The branches to Callie's right began to break, and the sounds of the approaching whatever it was, were getting louder. Callie slipped her knife from its sheath and held tight to it, her left hand pushed back behind her shoving Jenna, Gracie and Ben backwards just a bit further.

"Fuck, M'tired," Merle's voice groaned out as he slipped out of the brush and into Callie's path. His hands were rubbing hard at his eyes as he stepped out, a low moan flowing out of his throat. A familiar sounding moan.

"Son of a bitch," Callie let out on a strangled sigh of relief. She bent at the waist and put her hands to her knees, her right hand still gripping her knife tightly. She looked up as another set of feet came into view and found Daryl staring down at her. She looked over at the slightly shocked Merle and wagged her knife. "I was gonna stab your ass."

"What'd he do?" Daryl asked a bit confused as he watched Callie roll her eyes and wave her knife around angrily before putting it back in its sheath. Daryl turned to his brother, noting the look of shock on his face. Merle finished running his hands down his sweaty face and raised a confused brow over at Daryl. "What the fuck you do now?"

"Nothin'," Merle said lifting his hands to the sky. "I ain't done shit yet. Too fuckin' tired to even think about it," his eyes roamed over Callie in her little shorts and her tank top that was clinging to her sweat-covered body. "Well, maybe not that tired." He waggled his brows at her and Callie put her hand back to her knife.

Daryl moved forward then and put his hand over hers and had her eyes snapping up to him. He grimaced a bit, and held her gaze for a moment before sliding it back to the scared looking kids behind her. His eyes slid over her face, and down to where her eyes were looking at his hand still settled on her wrist, right over them stupid handcuffs still stuck 'round her wrists. He pulled his hand away quick and rubbed it down the side of his pants, and she smirked at him.

"Ya alrigh'," Daryl's accent was thick as he bit back his own yawn and blinked his eyes hard. Callie's smirk softened to a full smile and when he saw that he stepped back a bit with a look of pure confusion on his face. "What?"

"Nothin'," She said shaking her head and slipping her gaze to Merle who was smiling widely at Ben who was slowly moving towards the rough, exhausted redneck. She slipped her gaze to Daryl still a bit confused. "I'll tell ya later." She waved her hand around behind her, indicating the wooded area the two men just broke through. "I thought you were-"

"Walker!" Jenna's startled cry had Callie turning wide eyed behind her, hand on her knife.

Jenna was pushing Gracie away from her and backing up from the shambling undead heading straight for her. Callie tried to move forward but was hindered by Daryl's strong arm wrapping around her waist and practically pulling her off her feet. He twisted and put her behind him, his arms going wide to keep her from moving past him. Behind her Merle had grabbed a hold of Ben and had lifted the little boy off the ground while struggling to pull his rifle off his shoulder.

Gracie was staring wide eyed as Jenna pushed her away. Daryl lunged forward, still keeping Callie tucked behind him and grabbed the little girl. He held her tight as he moved back, his other hand reaching for Jenna.

Jenna's eyes were wide, but Callie saw the moment that the girl hit her peak of annoyance. She smacked away Daryl's hand, who struggled to hold the little squirming Gracie and pull his crossbow. Calllie moved to go past him, but he damn near growled at her as he shoved her back with his shoulder.

And Jenna, well she took matters into her own hands.

The backpack she took off was all of a sudden flying through the air, held tight by the straps in the pale fingers of Jenna. She had closed her eyes and let it fly, and Callie saw the reaction in the fifteen-year-old's face when in impacted with a bone crushing squish sound that had them all grimacing. The force of the swinging backpack had knocked the Walker down, broken a good bit of skull, but the thing was still moving. It's body, tangled in tattered remains of jogging attire—the large white Nike insignia on the front of its shirt making Callie shake her head.

She had that same shirt. Used to run in it all the time. She shivered just a bit, and shook her head watching Jenna mount the fucking Walker.

The girl was in the zone, as Merle stated later. She was moving in a trance as she straddled the form of the Walker and then proceeded to bring her backpack down on the head of the Walker. Again. And again. And again.

Finally it was over. And they were all left to stare. Daryl was still holding the squirming Gracie in his left arm, while his right had fallen limp at his side giving up its goal of pulling his crossbow. His eyes were on Jenna, his brow furrowed in confusion, but a tiny tip of his lips told Callie that there was just a bit of pride in that expression too. Callie settled her hand to Daryl's shoulder and he looked over at her, and then handed over the slightly shaking scared form of Gracie.

"She's a'right," Daryl grumbled rubbing at her back once, before realizing what he was doing and rubbing his hand down his pants. "Jus' scared." He returned his gaze to Jenna still straddling the Walker, and bringing her backpack down on the now flattened head of the Walker. "That one though," he pointed a thumb at her. "I think she cracked."

Callie nodded as she slipped her eyes over Jenna and then behind her to where Merle was setting Ben back to the ground. The wide grin on Merle's face was something Callie hadn't expected and he was patting Ben and shaking the boy so hard that Ben's head was nodding back and forth on his shoulders. The grin on Ben's face told Callie that the rough treatment from Merle wasn't hurting the boy. She slipped her gaze forward to where Jenna was now slowing in her head bashing.

Settling Gracie on the ground, Callie pushed the girl back towards Daryl. Earning a bit of a glare, but he put his hand to the girl's head and held her by him.

"Jen," Callie called out quietly. She wasn't exactly sure if the girl had 'cracked' as Daryl had put it, or if she was just working under the impression that the Walker was still alive and kicking. She was covered in gore. Black and red and pussy gore that was splattered over her face, and arms and her pale legs. Her worn out t-shirt and jean shorts were just as splattered and Callie knew when Jenna did wake from this trance she was going to be having a lot harder of a time falling asleep than before. "Jenna honey."

"Yo Red," Merle's voice rang out and Jenna looked up. The shocked deer-in-the-headlights expression causing Callie to wince just a bit. Then there was the slight flash and the distinct sound of Ben's Polaroid going off, and it had Callie's eyes falling quickly back to where Merle and Ben were standing. Merle was whooping with laughter as he pulled the photo out of the camera and bent down so that Ben could look at it.

"Fuck, Merle," Daryl grumbled and Callie slipped her eyes to him. He rolled them in almost an apologetic manner, while his free right hand slipped up to his mouth where he bit on his thumb nail. Callie noted with a bit of a smile that his left hand was lightly moving over Gracie's curls, and the girl had settled in close to his hip while she looked back at her brother and Merle. Gracie's little thumb was in her mouth, and she was nibbling on the tip. And Callie full on smiled when Daryl's eyes roamed over her. The quick jut of his chin towards Jenna had her turning her gaze away from a sight that was too ridiculously cute to be happening in the woods where a fucking Walker had just been.

"Heh, gimme that pen, little man." Merle was saying from his spot behind her.

Callie shook her head and started towards the still shocked into a stupor Jenna. She was still straddling the Walker, but her eyes were on them now. Her hands still holding tight to her backpack.

"Jenna honey, come on." Callie held out her hand and waited for the girl to wake up. Which was apparently not the way Merle Dixon did things. She heard his footsteps coming behind her, and turned to see him approaching with that wide grin. "I got this Mer—"

"Come on now, Red." Merle pretty much moved Callie out of the way, and just grabbed Jenna by the arm yanking her up to her feet. Jenna's hands fell limp in front of her, her worn out green-now gore covered- backpack left on the ground where the Walker's head had once been. Merle held Jenna's upper arm in his large hand, keeping the girl from falling as her legs wobbled like wet noodles below her. "Stay on yer feet," he said gruffly and Jenna's knees tightened.

Callie stared in wonder, her arms crossed over her chest as Ben sidled up to her, brandishing a photo with the words 'Red Bags A Walker' written on the bottom. Callie rolled her eyes and took the photo handing it over to Daryl. He snorted out a laugh and handed it back to Ben who tucked it away in his little backpack with a smile.

"Come on," Merle bent and lifted Jenna's backpack, a grimace on his face at the sound that it made when he did. His eyes went wide and he looked at Callie and then the stone-still girl he was holding on to. "The fuck's in here."

"Rocks," Jenna's quiet voice came back, her eyes still unblinking as she stared straight ahead. She wasn't really looking at anything just sort of staring. Most likely replaying the last couple minutes over and over in her head.

"Serious?" Merle looked to Callie, who shrugged.

"She didn't want to go unarmed," Callie said shifting her gaze to Daryl who was shaking his head and holding in a laugh. "And she didn't want to go get Miles' bat."

Merle let out another loud whooping laugh, and hefted the backpack over his shoulder while his other arm was tossed around the shoulders of Jenna. Without another word he was off, walking back towards camp with the gore covered girl. His arm tossed around her shoulder, keeping her feet moving and keeping her from falling. Callie shook her head and shared a glance with Daryl before following behind them.

It didn't take long to get back to camp, Merle and the still quiet form of Jenna leading the way. Callie's eyes took in the slowly waking camp and then slid back behind them. And it was like a little bulb went off in her head.

"Red," Merle was saying causing Callie to look back to the front. "You just earned yourself some fuckin' respect. That shit was per-fect." He held up her bag and swung it out to the girl. Jenna's arms reached up, still moving as if in a trance and grabbed her bag.

People were watching them now. Danny who had apparently woken up, a bit startled at all of them being gone was rushing over as Jenna walked forward at the pushing of Merle.

"Now go get cleaned up," Merle said putting his hands to his hips and shaking his head as he watched her walk slowly forward. That rock-filled gore-covered backpack dragging behind her on the ground.

Callie let Ben and Gracie run off after Jenna, and gave Danny a nod.

"What happened?" Danny asked, his hands coming to rest gently on Jenna's shoulders. She didn't look at him, just stopped and looked through him.

"I bagged a Walker," Jenna said quietly. Danny's eyes shot up to where Callie had stopped with Daryl and Merle and she shrugged. Jenna moved out of Danny's grip and kept walking, while Ben and Gracie both jumped up and down in front of him yelling over each other in their efforts to tell Danny what happened. Ben was pulling his camera, and the photo that Merle took out, while Gracie was just flailing her arms around excitedly and pointing back at Daryl and Merle.

"I'm gonna go lock myself in the Hummer now." Jenna said in that deadpan tone as she continued towards their little camp set up. She dropped her backpack right in front of Miles' yawning form and walked right up to the Hummer. Opened the door and did exactly that, leaving Miles to stare after her in confusion.

Callie turned her attention back to the two men beside her, and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked from Daryl to Merle, and then back again before shaking her head and sighing.

"You two aren't just hunting out there every morning are you?" Callie said quietly, not wanting to gain anyone else's attention.

"Not for food, jail-bird," Merle said turning his smile down a few notches and turning it towards her. Beside him Daryl was once again biting at his thumb nail, as if being caught doing a good deed wasn't sitting well with him.

"How many?" Callie asked stepping closer to the men.

"Not a lot," Daryl said finally from behind his thumb nail. "But 'nough to need to keep doin' it."

Callie shook her head, watching as Daryl continued to bite at his thumb nail. She still needed to thank him for sitting with Jenna, and for what just went down, and now it seemed she needed to thank him for much more than that. She shifted her attention to Merle still staring ahead like a proud papa at where Jenna had disappeared.

Callie smiled as her hands dropped from their place across her chest. She'd get Daryl later.

In one swift movement, she lifted her hands and grabbed the sides of Merle's face. She turned his attention to her and pulled his head down fast. Her lips crashed into his in a very chaste, but lengthy kiss. At that point she heard Danny laughing wildly, and the sound of Ben's Polaroid going off for the second time that morning.

Pulling away, Callie let her hands stay at Merle's cheeks for a moment, staring at the wide eyed shock on his face. She patted his left cheek twice and then turned to smile at Daryl. Daryl's expression damn near had her laughing, but instead she took a step away from Merle and towards him. He backed up, and she put her hands up in surrender.

Daryl was a tougher cookie to crack, and didn't want him bolting from her completely.

When Callie looked back to Merle she saw the smile snaking its way on to his face. She lifted her hand and patted his sweaty chest twice, before turning and waving a hand over her shoulder at the men. She made her way to Danny who was holding his photo, triumphantly waving it.

"This one's gotta be my favorite, Cal." Danny said as she walked up to him.

"OOOOOoowee," Merle said, apparently finally waking up. Callie's gaze slipped back to the man and she watched as his big ass grin grew even wider. "That's gonna last me the rest of the fuckin' apocalypse." He pointed a finger at Callie and winked and she shook her head. "Oooo, brother-mine," Merle said throwing his arm around the still slightly shocked Daryl. "Boy oh, let me tell you. She is soft."

"Shut up, Merle," Daryl grumbled getting out of his brother's hold and turning his back and heading towards their camp.

"Oh, now don't be sore," Merle said catching up and putting Daryl in a headlock as they walked. Daryl struggled against him and Merle kept his hold tight. "Maybe someday she'll give you a little sugar, too." He pulled on Daryl who was still struggling in his arm. "Woulda done it today if your pansy ass hadn't fuckin' backed up. Dumbass."

"Fuck off!" Daryl said finally pushing Merle away. Daryl's eyes slid over his shoulder and met Callie's head on. He kept her gaze for a moment, and she smiled just a little.

"Oooo, need me a little 'lone time," Merle said slapping Daryl on the back as he made his way towards his tent. "God damn, I miss me the softness of a woman, brother." He was rubbing his hand on his chest and Daryl was grumbling and smacking hard at his brother who kept on pushing him.

"I said, fuck off, Merle." Daryl yelled and Callie watched as the boys disappeared.

"Gonna explain?" Danny asked gaining her attention. She shook her head and patted his shoulder, taking the photo of her kissing Merle with her. She pulled Ben along after her. "Oh come on! You can't not explain that!" Danny yelled after her pointing his finger at where Daryl and Merle once stood. "Callie! Come on!" Danny was following behind them now.

Ben handed Callie the photo of Jenna, and settled down beside her at the front tire of the Hummer. She shifted her gaze to the door behind the driver's door, where Jenna had disappeared and shook her head.

"Everything okay?" Shane asked as he came to a stop in front of them. His hands were on his hips and he was looking worriedly at Jenna, laying on the back seat with her legs curled into her chest.

"Yeah," Callie said with a small smile and a shake of her head. "Ran into a Walker. We handled it." She knew she really should have told Shane about the fact that Daryl and Merle were out there every morning apparently taking out Walkers, but something told her not to. Those boys didn't want recognition for it.

But they were gonna get it. From her at least.

Callie slipped out her butterfly knife, and poked a small hole in the bottom of the two photos. She felt Shane's stare on her and ignored it, slipping the shoe lace from one her busted sneakers that she didn't wear anymore, into the hole.

"What ya doing?" Danny asked idly, tossing his arm around Shane and looking down at them.

"Got to keep 'em together," She responded tying three tight knots. "I'll never remember otherwise. I mean, it really just wouldn't make any damn sense." She looked up at Danny and saw his brow narrow as he smiled down at her.

"Cal," he said simply, his hand tightening on Shane's shoulder. "You kissing Merle fuckin' Dixon ain't gonna make sense, ever." At that Shane's eyes went wide, because he'd apparently missed that part and he looked between Danny and Callie. "Oh, let me tell you 'bout this one." Danny said dragging Shane off with him.

Callie smiled down at the photos she held and looked over to Ben who was smiling at them too. The boy shifted his head and looked at her.

"Makes sense to me," Ben said with a shrug and she pulled him to her and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

_AN: Not really sure what prompted this one… could just be my love of writing Daryl and Merle interacting with the kids. *shrug* It is what it is._


	8. Fuck The DMV

**A Thousand Words**

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Fuck The DMV**

_This was one of those groups of photos that really needed a good explanation to be fully understood. See, those words weren't written on all of the photos. Only the one of Daryl's blue truck heading down the path, with Callie, Daryl and a few others running behind it. _

_But there were others that fit into that group, and the instant the first of the other photos was picked up, four sets of hands sifted through the pile looking for the rest. Pulling them up triumphantly, all of them easily picked out because they were exactly the same… except for the face in the center. _

_Each kid had one, Carl, Jenna, Gracie, Ben, Sophia, Eliza, Luis and Miles. All of them. Their smiling faces looking straight at the camera. A piece of notebook paper held above their head that had a silly drawing of a peach followed by the word GEORGIA written in bold capital letters, with the words 'Driver's License' smaller right below. And held under each kid's chin was another piece of paper that had their names written in the same bold capital letters. Then there was the other one in the group, the only adult. Glenn, holding a sign just a bit different than the rest, his face set in a bit of a glaring sort of amusement as he held it under his chin._

"Alright," Danny said settling in a the fire pit tapping something on his right knee, while his left waved around at the group. A few people stopped what they were doing to look at him, while others just ignored him. "Pull 'em out people. I know you have them."

"Jesus, don't you ever stop?" Amy said chuckling a bit as she walked up behind Danny and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Danny looked up at the girl and smiled, before shrugging. "What are you going to make us smash this time?"

"Nothing," Danny said shaking his head from side to side. The sky was slowly growing darker, and they were all settling down for a late dinner. He smiled over at Callie who was wiping her hands on a small towel as she exited the RV, Gracie and Ben with their fresh clothes ready to eat proceeding her and bounding over towards him.

"What's that dumb-fuck? We smashing shit again?" Merle Dixon's voice raised to all levels of ridiculous had Danny shifting his attention to the two slowly approaching rednecks. Merle's eyes slid toward Ben for an instant before smacking and then scratching at his neck. Danny smiled, and watched as Daryl tossed the newly skinned squirrel meat towards the waiting Carol and Lori to have them cut it up and put it in the stew pot boiling on the fire. Danny watched Daryl wipe his hands off with a rag from his back pocket, his gaze sliding towards Callie as she slowly approached.

It was amazing to Danny that those boys could bitch and moan about everything-honest to God everything—that went down in this camp. Complain about the idiocy of the people. Call them every name in the book from dawn till dusk. And pretty much make themselves out to be the most unapproachable bastards that God ever graced the world with. Yet they both seemed to soften-just a tiny itty-bitty little bit—for that woman and those two little kids.

Just today, Callie had to stomp around after the two rednecks who had taken the kids on a bit of a hike. To hear it from Merle and Daryl though, it was shrugged off stating that they were hoping they woulda lost them and not have to worry 'bout them anymore. But Danny knew, those two rough rednecks with their swearing and hotheadedness liked those kids.

And they liked the woman that played herself as 'momma-hen'. Whether either of them wanted to admit it or not. Danny had witnessed the smiles on both men's faces as just moments ago, Callie had returned with Ben and Gracie trudging in front of her, and the two Dixon boys at her back. She'd been mad, but smiling as well as Ben and Gracie rambled on about their little hike with the rednecks. Danny smiled just a bit as Callie continued forward now, not yet noticing Daryl's stare. She shifted her eyes to him just as Ben pulled on Daryl's shirt, causing the man's eyes to fly down.

"Are we gonna hit stuff again?" Ben asked Daryl who lowered a single brow in mock annoyance at the kid before turning and walking towards his usual spot on the outskirts of the circle of chairs. Like the man was really annoyed. He'd just spent the whole day with the kid, and hadn't said a single word against it. Callie watched with an amused expression as Daryl walked away, tucking the small dish towel into her back pocket.

"Ain't you bugged me enough for one day, boy?" Daryl grumbled as he walked.

"Such a sweetheart," she mumbled to Danny, loud enough for Daryl to hear. The man sent her a scathing look before plopping down next to Merle who was still looking at Danny.

"The fuck you want people to do then?" Merle said itching at his ankles and this his crotch. He leered at Callie who watched him with an amused smile. He leaned back continuing to scratch and smiled widely at her, while beside him his brother continued to rub at his hands with his dirty rag. "You curious 'bout something, jail-bird?"

"Never been less interested in man's penis in my life, Merle." Callie said with a bit of a raise to her brow. "'Specially if it's that fuckin' itchy."

"Bitch," Merle growled leaning forward with one final good scratch. Callie smiled, and earned a bit of a smile from the downturned face of Daryl. Merle smacked at Daryl for the rag so that he could clean his hands, and Callie grabbed the one out of her back pocket and threw it at his head. He glared at her for a minute before wiping the towel down his sweating face and neck. Merle returned his attention to Danny and waved his big paw around. "The fuck you yammerin' about, Dumbass?"

"Driver's License, Ass-clown," Danny said with a smile, earning a glare from Merle. "Photo I-denti-fication." He said slowly, as he turned his attention back to the group and wagged his little plastic card around catching the few remaining stragglers eyes. Miles sitting next to him was shaking his head as he tipped his eyes to Amy still standing behind Danny.

"Swear the man can't ever just sit still and enjoy the relaxation of camp-life." Miles said with a dramatic emphasis on camp-life, his hands lifting to indicate his surroundings. Amy chuckled and smiled at the boy before settling down on the log next to Danny. Miles averted his gaze from the pretty blond and looked towards Glenn who was chuckling as well. "Not that I'm complaining mind you. Never bored with him constantly working that ridiculous mind of his."

"Yeah," Callie said settling on the lawn chair and pulling Ben onto her lap, while Gracie settled near Danny and Amy. "That's always something to be excited about."

"Shut it and pull out your wallet," Danny said pointing a finger at the woman in the lawn chair to his right. "Come on I know y'all got 'em." He pointed at Merle and Daryl who were looking at him like he'd grown two heads.

"Any reason for the interest?" Dale asked sidling up to his seat and pulling his own wallet from his back pocket. He looked at the inside for a moment, at a picture of him and his wife that Callie had seen a million times since she'd met him. He pulled out his own little plastic card and marveled at it for a minute. "Amazing the things you have with you at the end of the world, isn't it?"

"My thoughts exactly, Dale." Danny said looking at his own driver's license. He elbowed Amy and she lifted her hands to the sky getting to her feet.

"God, okay," she trudged off towards the RV catching Andrea's attention as she walked past. "Where did you end up throwing our purses?"

"Why?" Andrea asked as she wiped her hands down the back of her jeans and looked after her sister.

"Danny's playing games again," Amy shot back over her shoulder, smiling widely as she disappeared into the RV.

"And he needs our purses?" Andrea's confused gaze shot back over at the fire pit watching as the assembled group began to dig into their pockets looking for something. Callie was shifted on her butt, one arm wrapped around Ben's little body holding him steady as she grabbed for something in her back pocket. She lifted her eyes over her shoulder and to Andrea.

"No, he needs your ID." Callie said with a smile.

"For reasons as yet unknown," Dale said smiling as he waved his own license around in the air. The older man exchanged a humor-filled glance with Callie who had pulled out what looked like a money clip from her back pocket. Ben made a grab for it, but she pulled it away taking her ID out and placing it back in her pocket. "A money clip?"

"I worked in a bar," Callie said shrugging and smiling. "And really, do I look like the type to carry a purse?" She lifted her arms wide, and Dale shook his head.

"Ain't figured out your type yet," Daryl mumbled from his seat, earning a grunt of ascension from his brother.

"Got that right," Merle said in return to Daryl. Merle nodded his head and balled up the now dirty as hell towel to toss it back at her. She caught it with a chuckled and watched as Merle shifted and pulled out his wallet. He smacked at Daryl to do the same and watched the younger man shift to grab for his back pocket.

It really was amazing what habits you kept with you even at the end.

Callie let her eyes glide to the younger Dixon as he winced and grimaced as his brother prodded him to get his license out faster. It always made her smile that even though these boys were the outcasts of their little camp, and liked it that way, they couldn't resist Danny. He just had that pull to him.

Daryl's eyes lifted up just as he felt Callie's slide down to where Ben was sitting between her legs on the lawn chair. The boy was grabbing for her license and she was playfully pulling it out of his reach. The smile on her face was almost contagious, and he probably would have smiled if he'd been anywhere but in a large fuckin' group of idiots. Merle grabbed Daryl's license, smackin' him on the head with it, breaking him from his staring at the girl at about the same time Ben got his hands on Callie's. Daryl itched at his elbow and grimaced as Merle cracked up about his picture.

"You ain't looking much better Merle," Daryl said snatching his brother's license. "You look like a fuckin' serial killer."

"Not much of a stretch there I'm sure," Andrea said quietly with a smile on her lips as she watched Amy come back from the RV.

"Fuck you, sugar-tits. Ain't no one talkin' to you." Merle snapped leaning forward with a snarl.

"Come on, we all know she's right," Danny said tossing his hand in the air between the two. His eyes slid to Andrea who had backed off a good bit and he grinned tapping his finger on her knee. "Sugar-tits is nice. You should put that on your next business card."

"God, really Danny," Amy made a face as she came back to camp, and Andrea snickered and shook her head. Dale lifted his eyes over to Callie who was smiling at Danny as he explained the importance of a good nickname to the newly returned Amy. Callie and Dale shared a look, one that said so much about the man Danny was that he was able to extinguish arguments and misunderstandings in such an easy manner, and then returned to their own little conversations.

"Your name here has a lot more letters than you usually spell out for me," Ben said holding up her license into the quickly fading light. Callie smiled down at him and ruffled his hair as he squinted at her card.

"That's cause it's my full name, buddy." Callie said making a grab for the card.

"Oooh, give that here, buddy." Danny said making a dramatic grab for the card. Ben held it away for a second longer, staring at her picture before handing it to the overzealous Danny.

"You hair's curly like Gracie's. Is that what it looks like clean?" Callie chuckled and ruffled Ben's hair while the surrounding adults all desperately tried to hide smiles and snickers. She mumbled a 'yes' and heard Dale mumble something that sounded like 'from the mouths of 'babes'. "You look pretty there," Ben said scratching and rubbing his elbows.

"Thanks buddy," Callie said ruffling his hair again and placing a bit of a kiss on his head. She lifted her eyes to see Daryl again peeking at her as he scratched at the back of his neck.

"Yeah, leave it to you to be one of the few people in the world to look good in a driver's license photo." Danny muttered as he held her license up to the fading light and squinted at it. He tipped it closer to the fire for added light and then a big old grin broke out on his face. "Caroline Jean. You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me. Caroline Jean Marcus. God you just about jumped out of Tara with that fuckin' name."

"Caroline Jean?" Merle was cracking a wide grin wiggling his fingers and leaning over to get the ID from the still chuckling Danny. The license was handed over and Callie shook her head.

"I like it," Gracie said quietly from Danny's side, and Danny gave her a big smile. "It's pretty."

"How did you get to be Callie?" Shane asked with a smile as he slipped his license out and passed it over to the anxiously waiting Carl.

"My brother, Bobby." Callie said with a smile. "He's always been a bit of a spit-fire. Trouble-maker. Downright holy fuckin' terror if you will." Callie laughed and shook her head as she put a hand to the top of Ben's head as he settled back against her. "My mom was just about due to have me, and Bobby was about six or so at the time. Mom had taken him to the park, and one of kids there called mom a fat cow. Bobby, has never been the type to take anyone putting his family down. So," she smiled widely. "Bobby got up from his position near mom and strolled over and socked the kid. No fuss no muss." Snickers filled the air and Callie let her eyes roam over to Daryl. "Trouble was, the kid was like thirteen. One punch back and he knocked Bobby's socks off, and all four of his front teeth."

"Ouch," Jenna quipped as she smiled down at Amy's Driver's license, before passing it to the chuckling Glenn.

"Yeah," Callie shifted a bit as Ben again squirmed in her lap as he looked at Danny's license. She wrapped her arms around the boy to get him to settle. "Didn't stop Bobby from running back at the boy. By the time they were done, Bobby was missing his four little front baby teeth, had a black eye and a bloody broken nose. The other boy was just as bad, except sadly, the tooth Bobby broke of his was a permanent one." She shook her head and smiled. "And the fight, pretty much put mom into labor. I was born that day, couple hours after Bobby's fight."

"Nice," Amy said with a smile as she stared down at Danny's license. "Daniel Thomas Murdock Jr. Oh God." Everyone let out a bit of a giggle and Danny snatched for his license. Amy laughed and tossed it to Shane.

"Uh huh," Callie smiled as she took the Dixon's licenses and handed Merle's to Ben and kept Daryl's to look at. "Mom had been adamant about calling me Carly. But Bobby couldn't get it out right without his teeth. So it ended up sounding like Callie for months. And after that, it just kind of stuck."

Callie smiled as she looked at Daryl's license. He looked the same. It was a horrible photo though, not done any favors by the plastic being dirty as hell and almost completely broken horizontally. She smiled up at him and then switched with Ben to look at Merle's. It was not shocking. Merle definitely looked like a fucking serial killer. Wide saucer eyes and an open mouth, as if he'd been caught in the middle of saying something.

"Callie's fittin'." Merle said off-hand, his voice a bit quiet as he looked at the licenses that were passed to him. "You don't look like no fuckin' Carly. No fuckin' Caroline neither- that there's an old lady name." He twitched a finger at her and she laughed.

"Thanks, Merle," Callie said watching the man itch his way down his right arm and then back to his chest and again at his crotch. She narrowed her brow at him before passing his license to the waiting Andrea.

"So what was the point to this?" Andrea asked smiling at Merle's license and then Daryl's. They both looked like goddamn serial killers, or characters out of Deliverance. Danny slipped his eyes to the woman and smiled down at Lori's license.

"Something to pass the time," Danny said with a smile as he shook Lori's license and smiled at the dark haired woman across the fire. The group fell into silence as they stared down at one of the last vestiges of their past lives. Their normal lives. No one found it odd that everyone still carried theirs around. And no one mentioned why. Danny looked around at the group. No one wanted to admit out loud to holding on to something so silly, so that if they died someone might at least know their name. "Hey Miles," Danny yipped smiling at the boy not far from him. "Get your ass up and go grab yours. Always makes me laugh seeing a kid's first. Awkward big cheesy grins like they just won the fuckin' lottery. Go get it."

"I don't have one," Miles said his voice a bit on the sad side, as he poked around at the ground by his feet. The group got quiet, as if the boy's uncharacteristic mellowness was infectious, and he looked up at the silence. He plastered a fake grin on his face and rubbed at the back of his head as he passed Lori and Jacqui's ID's down the line without looking. "I know how to drive. I just failed the test. Fuckin' backed over a god damn stray cat and nearly killed the dude from the DMV." He said shaking his head at the memory. Everyone chuckled just a bit at that and Miles looked sadly down at Danny's license in his hand. "I was schedule to go back and retest but then-" he waved his hand idly around camp.

The adults in camp got quiet, all of them looking to the children sitting around laughing idly at the licenses in their hands. Jenna not far down was explaining to Miles that her birthday was coming up in December and she had been dreading that test from the day she started having her dad take her out to learn. Callie's eyes lingered on the top of Ben's head as he shifted around in her lap, and then over to Gracie happily playing with her shoes.

While it was amazing the silly things you ended up having with you at the end of the world, it was downright sad to think of the things their children would miss out on. None of them would get to have those horrible photos on their license. The stories of how many times they failed their driving exam, or about their disaster of a first car.

"You know what," Danny said finally putting his hands on his knees and looking around. Everyone was staring at him and he smiled widely as he stood up and walked over to Miles. Putting both hands on the boy's shoulder he shook him in a friendly manner. "Fuck the DMV. Y'all 'er getting your licenses tonight."

"And how would you propose we do that?" Lori asked smiling over at her chuckling son.

"We're gonna have us a little photo shoot." Danny lifted Miles by the collar of his shirt and pushed him over towards their tents. "Go grab that notebook in the tent." He shifted his eyes to Ben and smiled wide. "Buddy go get your camera."

Ben put his hands to Callie's legs and bounded off her lap. Following after Miles into the tent. Callie sat in her chair enjoying her strange squirrel meat stew, laughing with Andrea and Jacqui as they told stories of changing their first flat tires. Every once in a while she would shift her eyes to where Danny was setting up his little photo shoot area. He'd drawn this stupid picture of a peach and written GEORGIA in giant letters right next to it. Under that it smaller letters it said 'Driver's License'.

"G-man, come here, help me out." Danny yelled over his shoulder. The younger man raised his brows and bounded over to Danny. "Here you get to be sign one." He slapped the piece of notebook paper with Georgia on it into Glenn's chest. "Y'all get to be your own sign two." He smiled widely, holding up a sign with Miles' name printed on it in bold letters. "Miles come on boy get ready for your close up."

With that, Danny positioned Miles just right. Glenn was holding the Georgia sign over his head, while Miles held the one that said his name on it. Danny grabbed the camera from Ben and snapped the shot. It was utterly ridiculous and completely sweet at the same time. And Callie was grinning like an idiot when Gracie and Ben bounded over to her with their 'driver's licenses'.

"G-man, where's your license. Don't remember seeing it in the shuffle." Danny was asking which earned a bit of a mumbled response from the younger man. "What was that?"

"I forgot it," Glenn looked sheepish and was rubbing at the back of his head as he looked around. "I thought it was in my wallet, but—" He shrugged and looked over at Danny. "Not like I really need it anyway."

"Come on," Danny pulled Glenn towards the spot he'd lined all the kids up at and ripped the Georgia sign from his hands and pushed it at the now smiling Miles. Danny pretty much shoved Glenn into position and then turned with that wicked grin on his face and began scribbling on a piece of notebook paper. "Alright," Danny said picking up the camera and handing Glenn his sign. Taking a few steps back Danny smiled widely. "Hold up your sign and smile big."

Glenn looked down at the piece of notebook paper that Danny had just handed him, and begrudgingly held it up under his chin. His face was set in an amused glare as Danny lifted the camera chuckling.

"You're a jackass," Glenn said muttering and then the tell tale sound of the Polaroid going off drown out Danny's laughter.

Shane stepped over and looked over Danny's shoulder as he pulled the photo out, while Glenn crumbled the piece of notebook paper into a ball and threw it at the madly chuckling Miles beside him. The photo slowly became clear as Danny gave it a good shake, and a little grin spread on Shane's face.

"Nice touch," Shane said smacking Danny once on the back of the shoulder. The immortalized glaring amusement of Glenn was showing perfectly in the photo. The Georgia sign above his head just a little askew, while the sign under his chin was held perfectly straight. "Glenn: Organ Donor."

"Does this mean I can drive the Hummer?" Ben asked excitedly as he bounced from foot to foot in front of Callie scratching at his shoulder and neck as he smiled.

"Tell you what, Ben. When your feet can touch the pedals you can drive the Hummer." Callie said ruffling his hair. Ben let out a disgruntled sigh and then began to pout as he stood before her. Merle Dixon sauntered over and grabbed Ben around the middle getting a bit of a giggled out of the boy who was squirming in mid air as Merle tossed the kid over his shoulder upside down.

"Let's see, boy." Merle took the photo and pulled it out of Ben's reach, squinting at it. "Don't look like no fuckin' driver's license I've ever seen. But I guess it'll have to do." Merle started carrying Ben off at that point, and Daryl came to a stop near Callie. He scratched behind his neck and at his own shoulder, accidently brushing Callie's shoulder with his hand as he scratched.

Merle was walking towards Daryl's blue truck with purpose, and both he and young Ben were chanting 'Fuck the DMV' as loud as they could. Callie was shaking her head and trying not to laugh at the sound of the seven-year-old saying 'Fuck'. She could reprimand him, but what would be the point.

"Boy's gonna have himself a colorful vocabulary," Daryl mocked idly earning a smile from the woman next to him. Her eyes caught his and they heard Merle open the driver's side door of Daryl's truck. They turned to watch Merle lifting Ben up into the cab.

"He wouldn't really let Ben drive," Callie's eyes widened as she watched Merle dig in his pockets for keys before tossing himself in and slamming the door shut. "Would he?" Callie's arms uncrossed from their position at her chest and she shifted her eyes to the man beside her. Daryl shook his head, but the motion stopped and his eyes widened as he heard the truck roar to life.

"Merle!" Daryl and Callie both yelled in unison as they dashed towards the truck. "That's my fuckin' truck!" Daryl yelled as they ran. The sound of the Polaroid going off again was lost in the chaos as they yelled and the truck barreled down the path down to the highway.

_AN: This one was kind of a spur of the moment one. A challenge to myself.. I wanted to see where I could go with it. There is another photo attached to this story… but I'm not going to give it away. We'll see if y'all can guess. _

_Thanks!_


	9. Workin' At The Car Wash

**A Thousand Words**

_Okay, so this was not the one that I had planned to write as a follow up to Fuck The DMV…but so many of you seemed to want to see something like this…that I changed my plans. I can only hope this doesn't disappoint those of you that guessed at it. _

_Just for a reference point, this scene would be set at some point close to Merle and the group heading into Atlanta._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Workin' At The Car Wash**

_Two photos really go with this little tale… The first:_

_The sepia hues of dusk gave a strange sort of hue to the photo, not to mention the fact that it looked like whoever took it was moving which caused just a bit of odd fuzziness to occur around the edges of some of the people. Nothing too severe, you could still tell exactly who was depicted, but it was enough to make the photo have a bit of a 1970's type of feel to it. _

_There was a lot going on in the photo, one of the most action-packed of all. Daryl's blue truck was pulled down close to the lake at the Quarry, it's entire front end including the windshield was covered in blood, muck, and gore. And really, it was a bit disconcerting to see. Not far off, you could see Miles and Glenn smiling just a bit as they carried two buckets each. Obviously the buckets were full of water from the lake, because each of them was straining under the weight. Lori and Carl were standing off to one side, Carl with a huge grin as he looked at the wide-eyed and obviously a bit shook up form of Ben. Lori had her hands to the smaller boy's shoulders a frown marring her features as she looked directly at the camera little Gracie at her side. Jenna and Amy were grimacing as they stared at the front of the truck, both holding a bunch of rags in their hands. _

_And then, there was the best part, the part that made the horrific state of Daryl's truck kind of fade into the background. Merle Dixon was sitting right by the front driver's side wheel, his left hand on the ground behind him, while his right was held just a bit out from his mouth as he grinned wickedly. Blood was pouring out of his nose and down into his mouth as his eyes tipped towards the source of his agony. And off to the right, almost out of frame, was that source. Callie was pretty much airborne, her hands reaching out as her legs seemed to work to walk even though they were no longer on the ground. Behind her, with both arms wrapped around her midsection was Daryl. His face contorted as he tried desperately to contain the writhing energy of the apparently livid woman. _

_Photo two: _

_The caption written was simply said: DENIAL, she is a river…and you're drowning_

_The photo also had that odd sense of movement to it, and was honestly just sweet…if you asked Danny. It was of the lake water, rippling and moving in the low light of the coming night, and two figures waist deep in the water. Callie was half-heartedly glaring a tiny almost imperceptible smirk on her lips, one hand tossing her wet hair out of her face while the other was sending a massive wave of water towards the other figure. Daryl head was half-turned away from the on-coming water, eyes squinted a bit as water dripped down his own face. The half-smile on his face was priceless. But the fact that their eyes were locked even in the midst of all that chaos was the part that really made the picture sing._

* * *

"Merle!" both Callie and Daryl were yelling as they ran after Daryl's truck as it barreled down the roadway towards the highway. "That's my fuckin' truck!" was yelled by Daryl, causing her to half turn towards him. They were being followed by a few others as they ran, all of them yelling as well. Gone was that moment of fun and relaxation from their little photo shoot with the kids. Callie was quite simply beside herself.

On one hand she knew that Merle wouldn't let anything happen to Ben. That whether the dumbass wanted to admit it or not, he cared about the boy and what happened to him. But on the other hand, she knew that this world was not the world of before. That anything could happen at any time and that it didn't matter if you were a badass redneck sum'bitch that could probably handle anything and everything thrown at you in your fuckin' sleep.

Anything could happen, at anytime.

Also, Callie thought, feeling Daryl's warm hand wrap around her forearm and pull her to a stop before she could even start really running down the hill, Merle could quite possibly be high as a fucking kite right now.

She felt another tug on her arm and let Daryl pull her back a few steps. She turned wide eyes to him, and he squished his face in an angry sort of frown. He shifted his eyes between the road where the truck had disappeared and her a couple of times before letting off a low 'Fuck.'

"What are you doing?" Callie yelled, snatching her arm away from Daryl and watching him shake his head and scratch at his arm. Her eyes shifted to the top of the clearing, where everyone was milling about now. Most just as perturbed by what was happening as she was. At the RV Callie could see Danny, Glenn and Miles on the roof each trying to see if they could see the truck.

"He's heading to the highway," Danny shouted down to her, lowering the binoculars from his eyes and shifting his gaze to where she stood. Callie instantly turned around and was about to start off down the road. Again, Daryl's hand shot out and he grabbed her arm, and this time when she tried to pull away he held tight and pulled her towards him.

"Ya ain't gonna be able to run the fuckin' truck down, so quit it." Daryl snapped at her, he tugged at her arm again and she fell just a bit towards him. Her hand hit his chest to steady herself and she pushed at him angrily causing him to let go of her arm. Daryl ran his hand through his hair and let out a gruff sigh.

"Tell me he's not—"

"He ain't," Daryl growled back, his voice low and menacing as he glared at her. He firmed his lips as he stared at her and then shook his head slightly, before continuing in a much calmer tone. "He ain't." Callie licked at her lips and stared at Daryl for a moment before pushing past him and heading for the Hummer. "Where you goin'?" Daryl asked incredulously as he watched the woman fling her door open and toss a glare back at him.

"I'm gonna go get his ass." Callie said with a growl in her voice. Daryl rolled his eyes and stalked up to her, sparing a glance at Shane. The former Sheriff's deputy had his hands on his hips and was wide-eyed with disbelief and disgust as he shook his head at Daryl. Sneering once at the man he held up a hand to kind of placate him and returned his gaze to the woman about to be an idiot.

"Ya ain't goin' after him," Daryl said his eyes squinting harshly at her as she raised a brow that said very simply 'oh really?'. He shook his head and lifted his eyes to the three idiots on top of the RV. "I'll go."

"I don't need-" Callie started but Daryl raised a gruff hand and shook his head angrily.

"I don't care about your 'I'm a big girl I can do this shit on my own' bullshit. I ain't doin' this for you," Daryl started stalking off, his eyes skipping over to Shane who's lips had firmed to a line as he watched Daryl saunter off. "That's my fuckin' truck. And my fuckin' brother."

"And my boy," Callie spat back, slamming her door and stalking after him. He grunted something out and she shook her head. "Daryl."

"Ya ain't goin'!" He turned halfway and flung his arm out stopping her in her tracks. Daryl's eyes skipped over her shoulder to the rest of the camp, lingering on Dale and Shane, and then sliding to Danny as he came down the ladder of the RV. "Tell her."

"Callie," Shane's calming voice broke the silence that Daryl's outburst had caused, and Callie's eyes slipped to him. "Let Daryl go."

Callie opened her mouth to retort but the sound of Merle's motorcycle roaring to life cut her off. Callie stepped slightly out of the way and followed as Daryl made his slow way around the people and then roared off down the road after his brother. Crossbow at his back, and a glare on his face as he shook his head at her when he passed.

Nearly a twenty minutes later, Callie was standing on top of the RV the binoculars shoved hard into her face as she squinted towards the roadway. Her hands clenched and unclenched on the black plastic and her foot tapped idly on the roof. Twenty minutes was way too long for them to be gone. With Daryl moving the way he had been when he rode of down that hill after Merle and Ben, it was way too fucking long.

"They'll be fine," Danny muttered from his position sitting in the lawn chair behind her. She didn't look back, just rolled her eyes behind the binoculars and pushed them tighter to her face. Fingers clenching again as Danny let out another sigh. "Honestly, Cal—"

"I know," Callie said with a bit more vehemence in her voice than she would have liked. She let the binoculars fall down just a bit, and shook her head. "I know, Merle and Daryl wouldn't let anything happen to Ben. I know." She sighed again and finally turned to look at her friend. "I just can't help but worry. This fucking world doesn't really allow for anything else."

"Yeah," Danny said with a small smile as he fiddled with the camera still had settled around his neck. "I know."

The roaring sound of Merle's bike had Callie's eyes flying to the roadway and the binoculars once again fixed to her eyes. She heard Danny getting to his feet, as she continued to watch the motorcycle follow the truck up the hill towards camp. Her eyes narrowed on the front bumper of the truck, and her hands tightened just a bit more on the binoculars. She recognized that splatter pattern all too well from when she'd driven Nina's little white VW bug through about six Walkers on her way back to camp weeks ago.

"Jesus," Callie whispered as she continued to follow the vehicles as they started up the last leg of the road.

"What's up?" Danny asked, popping up beside her.

Callie slammed the binoculars into his chest and then let her angry strides take in the space between her and the ladder. She'd made it to the bottom Just as the Daryl's disgustingly gore covered truck rode up into camp. The truck didn't stop at all, and Callie caught Merle's smiling face as he waved his hand at her as he drove past. Callie's head shook slowly, and she moved to step after him, only to almost get run over by the fucking motorcycle.

Ben was sitting in front of Daryl as they drove right behind the truck and headed down towards the lake. The boy's arms were stretched out as far as they could his fingers barely touching the handle bars, and while he may have been smiling a bit, his face was ashen and pale. Loud obnoxious beeping sounded as Merle almost hit Morales, and a few more went off in return to Morales' yells of alarm. Danny slid down the last three steps of the ladder and turned just in time to see Callie shift her angry gaze over her shoulder at him.

"I'm gonna kill him," Callie said through clenched teeth. "In fact, I may kill both those motherfuckers." Callie clenched both of her hands into fists and then shook them at Danny who was still smiling. When he watched her stalk off, grabbing a bat from where their stash sat near their tents, his smile finally faltered.

"Cal," Danny let the binoculars fall to the ground and moved with a good portion of the rest of the group after the fuming woman brandishing a bat. "Cal! Come on, he's fine!"

"What's going on?" Lori asked as she, Carl and Gracie fell into step beside him. Danny spared a smiling glance towards Carl, reached a hand down to Gracie and then raised his brows to Lori.

"Oh, you know," Danny said idly tossing his hands in the air. "Ben's back, and Callie's 'bout to murder the Dixons. Pretty normal shit." Lori rolled her eyes and rushed along with Danny to follow Callie and the rest.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, Daryl's truck was parked with the bed facing the water. Miles, Glenn, Jenna and Amy were looking at it in disgust while Daryl and Merle argued heatedly near the back end. Merle was tossing buckets out of the back and rags at the feet of the quartet of onlookers.

"Jesus, God. A man got to do all this shit himself. Stop staring, and help out ya fuckin' brats." Merle raged over at them while Daryl escorted the still slightly shaken Ben over towards a downed tree and sat him down.

Glenn's brows were almost completely hidden as they raised so far up towards the brim of his hat as Merle continued to throw buckets and rags out of the back of the truck. Miles looked at Jenna who rolled her eyes at the brash redneck and bent to pick up a few of the rags. Amy gave a bit of disgusted look to Merle as he sneered at her and then grabbed up a handful to follow after Jenna.

Danny shifted his gaze to Callie who was just about to meet up with Merle who was still digging in the bed of the truck. She was swinging the bat at her side as she stalked up to him, her eyes flitting to the tiny form of Ben, her head shaking idly at the sight of Daryl kneeling down in front of the boy.

"Ben okay?" Gracie asked from Danny's side. He let go of her hand and ruffled her curls giving her a nod.

"Why don't you go over and see," Danny said, his gaze lifting to Lori who was nodding her head. She and Carl moved to follow behind the quick moving little four-year-old. Danny let out a whistle. "Yo Daryl," Danny yipped, earning a scowl from the man who watched Gracie bound up to him. "Might wanna save your brother's ass from a bat induced coma."

"Fuck!" Daryl was up on his feet and making his way over towards the truck in no time, and Danny just stood back and enjoyed the show. His eyes skipping over quickly to Lori who smiled and nodded to him that Ben was fine, right before she shook her head at the sadistic grin on his face.

"Merle!" Callie was seething, not so much yelling, because truly scary motherfuckers didn't need to yell to get your ass afraid, but seething. Merle looked up, a big grin on his face, and she stopped short at the sight. A bruise settled along his left cheek right under his eye, blood trailing from a split in his lower lip. Her mouth, which had been open and ready to berate the man, closed and her eyes slipped to the stalking form of Daryl.

"The fuck you think you're doin'?" Daryl snatched the bat from Callie and shook it in front of her face a couple of times getting right in her face with his anger. The sight of Daryl's red bruised knuckles on that hand gripping the bat pretty much spelled out what had happened to Merle's face. Apparently Daryl must have seen some sort of look in Callie's eyes that he didn't like because right after making eye contact he was grimacing and shaking his head as he pushed past her. "Honest to fuckin' God." He muttered as he threw her bat back towards the woods and raked his hands through his hair.

"Now come on, brother," Merle said placing his hands on the tailgate and leering at Callie who was following Daryl's stalking form. Daryl turned to face his brother with a glare and continued to shake his head when his eyes again met Callie's. "I think you played fuckin' momma-hen well 'nough back on the highway. Give our little, jail-bird the chance to defend her own nest." Merle pushed around from the back of the truck walking towards the driver's side door where he rested his backside and held his arms out wide as he smiled at her. "C'mon now, jail-bird. Don't let me down. Badass like you got to have something to say."

Callie's eyes shifted from Daryl who was shaking his head at his brother, over to the grinning man calling her out. She licked her lips and ran a slightly shaking hand through her hair as she shook her head.

"Now that's fuckin' disappointin'," Merle said letting his hands fall, a sneer in place. "Here I though you gave a shit 'bout these kids. Though you loved 'em."

"Shut it, Merle," Callie spat at the man as she advanced. "You are damn lucky that I do love that kid. Ben, and his ridiculous affection for you is the only reason I'm not currently beatin' your ass."

"Really, now?" Merle scoffed as he shifted his eyes quick to Ben and then over to Daryl who was looking warily at Callie and Merle. "Here I figured it was cause you done got my baby brother pussy-whipped into doin' your dirty work for ya. Boy ain't never clocked me the way he did back on that highway over some fuckin' piece of ass before." Callie was shaking her head and starting to turn her back when Merle opened his mouth and continued. "Guess you need him though, need someone to do your dirty work for ya. Got 'nough blood on your hands already, huh jail-bird?"

It was lightning quick, and honestly everyone around had to admit, just damn impressive. Callie spun so fast, her hand balling into a tight well-aimed fist and colliding with Merle's face so quickly that no one even knew what was happening until Merle's back smashed into the truck. His ass slid on the side of the truck as he cradled his face. Daryl moved quickly then, as Callie started to make a grab for the now sitting Merle. His arms encircled her waist and he pulled her backwards, her feet kicking up in the air.

Miles and Glenn had just come into view at that point, both carrying buckets of water and smiling slightly at the little scene playing out. Merle looked up and over at the still raging Callie being held tightly by Daryl.

Danny shook his head and began humming Rose Royce's hit song 'Car Wash' which earned him a nice little frown from Lori as he lifted the camera that was hanging around his neck. Just as he was pressing the button to take the picture, still humming, Andrea smacked him upside the back of the head as she muttered 'Idiot'. The sound of the Polaroid being snapped was drown out by Callie's slightly annoyed voice.

"Let me go," Callie was saying, her hands smacking at Daryl's as he held her tightly and continued to back up. "I'm fine. Feelin' much better now. Let me go." Daryl's head was shaking back and forth as he kept his arms locked around her, he spat out some of her hair as it slid into his mouth and looked towards the water. Callie continued to struggle until she felt them begin to turn slightly. Her eyes moved to the right and she saw them move past Miles and Glenn, both still smiling as they held onto their buckets of water. "Dixon." Her voice was a warning tone if there ever was one, and she was pulling now at his arms held tight against her stomach. "I swear to God, Dixon if you-"

Daryl's feet were in the water, and his body was swaying with the effort it took him to try and toss the still wiggling woman in his arms into the cool water. Needless to say, Daryl was a bit surprised when Callie grabbed tight to him and rocked them both into the water. The resounding splash seemed to echo around the small area, and everyone froze for a minute.

Only a minute.

And then everyone broke out laughing. Which is what Callie and Daryl both heard when they sputtered to the surface.

"Fuckin' bitch!" Daryl was growling as he wiped his hand down his face and glared at Callie. Her hair was a tangled mess of wet curls over her face and she sputtering when she lifted her middle finger to him. Daryl couldn't help but smile at the woman, no matter how hard he tried not to.

"I can't believe you did that," Callie spit out a bit of water and ran her hand over her face a couple of times trying to get the hair away from her eyes as she looked over at him. "Again!"

"Cooled ya down didn't it?" Daryl said in return as he tossed his wet hair out of his face and squinted his eyes at the shore where everyone was still chuckling. He saw Danny jogging into view with Andrea yappin' at him as he rubbed at the back of his head.

"Thought you said he wasn't high," Callie said on almost a whisper as she continued to work at getting her tangle of hair away from her face. Daryl shifted his attention to where his brother was now being looked at by Ben and a grinning Miles.

"He ain't," Daryl said shaking his head, and flipping eyes back to her as he scratched at the side of his neck. He watched her shake her right hand around a bit, and feel at her no doubt sore knuckles, muttering 'fuckin' hard headed' under her breath before slipping her eyes back to him. "He's just a fuckin' idiot." He watched an almost imperceptible smirk slide onto Callie's lips, and watched her pull back her other hand and get ready to splash him. The wave came, and his head shifted to the side a bit and he tried really hard to control the want to smile back at her. The sound of the Polaroid going off was muffled as the water splashed into the side of his face. "Bitch." Daryl muttered.

"Pussy-whipped, huh?" Callie said chuckling now as she looked to the shore, and then idly down at Daryl's red knuckle. Daryl was grumbling something at her and she chuckled and shook her head when she met his angered glare. "Thank you for that."

"Whatever," Daryl said as he began wading back towards the shore. He looked back over his shoulder at her, and rolled his eyes when he saw her giving him a look. A look he didn't want to admit he liked seeing. He turned his attention back to the shore. "Merle, you dead?"

"Bitch broke my nose," came Merle's muffled reply. Followed by the chuckle of Miles who then got punched hard in the thigh by the man. Merle grabbed the kid's shoulders when he hunched over in pain and used him to get off the ground. "Shut it, loud-mouth," Merle muttered before spitting a wad of blood to the ground at their feet, much to the disgust of everyone around them.

"You're lucky that's all I broke, jackass." Callie said as she finally waded to shore. Putting her hands on her hips she glared at Merle as he looked over at her. He wiped his big ass paw of a hand across his mouth and painfully readjusted his broken nose, before sneering at her and making his way over.

"Now Merle," Dale's voice was that calming tone that everyone knew and loved from him.

Merle didn't pay the older man any mind and instead walked straight up to Callie who stood her ground no matter the muttered warnings from Andrea and Amy. She raised a brow at him and he just glared at her for a second, blood smeared across his face. Daryl had moved just a bit closer, but neither of them paid him any mind. A wicked grin snaked on to his face and he raised a single finger on his right hand and wagged it in her face.

"You're lucky I like you jail-bird, you know that?" Merle said as he swiped that raised hand under his still bleeding nose.

"Yeah, I wake up every day just thinking 'bout how fuckin' lucky I am that you like me Merle." Callie said putting her hands to her hips. Merle walked towards her smiling. Not far off Callie spotted Daryl watching out of the corner of his eye while he _supervised_ as the kids apparently got to work helping to clean off his Walker-gut covered truck. Callie's attention slipped back to Merle who was slowly making his way past her, working his jaw and busted nose in a painful fashion, still grinning like the maniac he was. "Just so we're clear," Callie whispered as he reached her side. He stopped, angling his busted bloodied face to her and she clenched her jaw. "If you ever even consider pulling a stunt like that with one of my kids again, I will kill you. You get me?"

"Yeah, jail-bird," Merle said smiling as he looked back as Daryl started to wave and yell at Miles as he started tossing buckets of water on the truck. Merle's eyes lingered on his little brother for a minute, watching as Ben poked at Daryl's thigh and Daryl swatted the kid away, before slapping a towel into the kids chest and pushing the kid towards the rest cleaning his truck for him. Little bitty Gracie worked her way up to Daryl and tugged at his shirt hem. The man turned around, looked down, the lifted the girl and set her back near the tree stump putting up a hand. The international signal for 'stay'. Merle snorted and spat out a wad of blood at Callie's feet. "Yeah, I get you." He slid his gaze back to Callie, and he continued quietly. "Don't let him fight your battles for you, girly. 'Cause he will, and this world ain't made for that type of shit no more."

Callie's body stiffened just a bit as Merle sneered at her and began walking again. She turned her attention back to Daryl and then couldn't help herself. "I'm not gonna let anyone fight my battles, or win my wars, Merle." She tossed back over her shoulder. "But I'm not gonna begrudge anyone the chance to smash you in the face." She smirked at him, while he started to slowly grin again. "That shit just feels too good. And you gotta enjoy the little things while you can right?"

"Bitch," Merle said, his voice a raspy bit of anger but the expression was just fucking amused. "You real lucky I like you." With that Merle threw his hand over his shoulder and grumbled and pushed his way past the rest of the accumulated campers down near the lake and back up towards his tent area.

Callie's eyes slid to Daryl who was now looking directly at her. His eyes were squinted nearly shut as he regarded her with an expression she couldn't quite place. But when she smiled at him, she saw the slight tilt of his lips as he returned it. Half-heartedly, sure. But he returned it.

And it apparently didn't go unnoticed by the crowd.

It was later that evening, when Danny handed Callie the photo that he took of her and Daryl in the water. He was chuckling when he watched her eyes narrow on the little caption. Denial, she's a river…and you're drowning. She shook her head and smacked him on the back of the head muttering 'asshole' as she walked towards her tent. Danny had merely raised his hands in surrender, not pointing out that she was grinning like an idiot.

_AN:_ _Okay, so I hope that one didn't disappoint. I personally think it turned out better than the one I had planned. A big huge thanks to all of you for 'suggesting' it. Much love!_


	10. Ben and Gracie

**A Thousand Words**

_This one was requested (AngieInWonderland) at the mention of it happening in NM: LOVE and well… I think it was just damn cute…so here you go! It's quite a bit different from the rest of the snippets. A bit darker in feeling, and very one sided in where the story-telling is coming from. But I think it fit well into the section of time that it fits into in the story. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**Ben and Gracie**

_This one wasn't in Ben's backpack. It was stolen from the top of a dresser a few days ago. And it wasn't looked at with the rest of the group, just the three depicted. Sharing the sweetness of a long ago memory while they could._

_The two names were written in a small, precise writing on the bottom white footer of the photo. _

_It was dark, late evening. The photo was folded, the person standing in the middle almost completely obliterated by the worn in fold, but it was clear just by the tilt of the head and the sleeveless shirt who it was walking with Ben and Gracie. Daryl's hand was settled on top of Ben's head helping to steer the obviously still half asleep boy towards where the person taking the photo was standing. Ben was rubbing at one of his eyes with the back of his hand while his other was squinted up at the man beside him. Daryl's other hand was down at his side, little Gracie gripping his pinky in her small hand. She was yawning widely at that moment, her hand lifted in front of her mouth. Her tiny thumb which she had been biting on moments ago was resting at her bottom lip waiting to go back in after the yawn ended._

* * *

Why the fuck was he still in here?

Daryl bit at his thumbnail and looked down at the woman still half-curled into him and once again shook his head. He'd planned on leaving her in the Hummer. Planned on just laying her ass down in that makeshift bed that she hadn't gotten any use out of earlier in the day, and leaving her to sleep off the horrors of the day. But then she'd gone and whimpered. She'd fuckin' whimpered when he let his arms fall off of her, and he'd watched her curl up into a fuckin' fetal position.

She'd fuckin' whimpered and somehow that tiny little sound had reverberated through his entire body, bouncin' around like some kind of tiny little needle pokin' the air right outta him.

He'd never heard her make a sound so…sad before. No, sad wasn't the word for it. Scared? Defeated? Shit, he didn't know. All he knew was that he'd known her for a while now, been through hell with her a couple of times, and he'd never heard that sound out of her before.

So once she made it again, and pulled herself a little tighter into the ball she was trying to make out of herself, he'd groaned and crawled into the back of the Hummer with her. He'd tried to be gentle as he moved her around, and settled them so that his back was against the front seats. He was sitting uncomfortably on the lowered back seats, his feet stretched out in front of him, with a woman snuggled up on his side clinging to him like he was a buoy and she tryin' not to drown.

Half a fuckin' hour he'd guess he'd been there now. She'd settled down after about ten minutes or so, but he was still there. His back pretty much a tangle of knots while Callie just settled herself in for the fuckin' long haul and kept rubbin' her face up against his chest like a cat. She wasn't whimperin' no more. No, now she was fuckin' sighin'.

She did it again, and Daryl rolled his eyes and banged his head on the back of the seat behind him.

Why the fuck was he still here?

Daryl pulled away just a bit from her and he felt it again. Callie's fingers tightened in his shirt and her body pressed a bit closer to him, and he fuckin' sighed. That's why he was still here. Because she may have been sighin' like she was okay, but really she wasn't. Not even close.

And it was his damn fault. He fuckin' broke her. Made her fuckin' whimper or whatever the fuck it was. He did that. And he needed to fix it. That's why he was still there. He didn't really know what was goin' on in her head, but he'd seen the look in her eyes when they had made it back to his truck. Seen the break that he needed to fix. So yeah, even if he was fuckin' hot and uncomfortable, he was gonna sit there and take it. 'Cause for some unknown reason, it kept her from whimperin'.

Good God if fuckin' Merle could see him now.

Daryl's chest bounced just a bit as he chuckled at himself, and Callie shifted in her curled up position at his chest. Her face slid up along his chest so that those pretty little lips of hers were aimed right at his chin, and the rush of her sleeping breaths on his stubble-covered skin made him tense.

Merle.

What type of hell had his brother been goin' through in this new fuckin' shithole of an existence? What type of crazy was runnin' through his mind that had him stringin' up and guttin' people out in the fuckin' woods? Daryl's jaw clenched and he again lifted his thumbnail to his mouth to bite at his cuticle, while his other hand idly worked in the mass of Callie's wavy hair. What type of man had his brother become without him there to be the fuckin' angel on his shoulder?

He couldn't stay here. He had to go back. Back out there and try to figure out what the fuck had gone down in those woods. Had to check that little bit of silver he'd caught a glimpse of hanging 'round that dead man's neck. Had to find out for her.

'Cause he'd broken her enough. Didn't need to break her more by letting her chase a ghost. If it was her brother laying in that pit, he owed it to her to find out.

He didn't even really want to think what it meant if it was Bobby Marcus in that pit. If his meth-head of a brother had killed Callie's brother. Daryl shook his head and ran his free hand through his sweat-drenched hair.

A tiny shuffling sound caught Daryl's attention and had his hand sliding towards where his crossbow was laying near the wheel base of the rear driver's side. He could still hear the rest of the group talking about what they'd found in the woods, goin' on and on about them needin' to get the fuck outta dodge. Goin' on and on about Merle. Daryl's eyes squinted out the open tailgate, waiting to see what had made the noise. His instinct, no matter what sort of bad-mouthin' they were doin' bout him and his brother, was to protect the group.

He shifted forward just a bit his fingertips sliding over his crossbow, his other arm sliding just a bit away from Callie's settled form. He was just about to pull his crossbow up when his eyes caught the tiny little bob of a head over the tailgate. The top of a familiar sandy-blond head bobbed up again, tiny fingers gripping the tailgate while wide blue eyes peered at him.

"Jesus, kid," Daryl said quietly letting his hand fall from his crossbow and running it through his hair. "What you doin' roamin' around? Gonna get yourself killed."

"We wanted to see Callie," Ben said quietly, his voice muffled a bit by the tailgate he was pressing it up to. Ben slid his hand further into the hummer, little fingers looking for purchase to pull himself up.

"She's sleepin'" Daryl said succinctly, as if that would appease the boy's need to see the woman. Ben's fingers stilled for a moment, his eyes slipping up to Daryl. He couldn't see the boy's mouth, but the slight narrowing of his brow as he looked up at him told Daryl he was utterly confused by what Daryl had just said.

"Yeah? So?" Ben said pulling at the blankets and slipping down before finally getting good purchase at the seam and pulling himself up. "You're here." Daryl rolled his eyes and bit at his thumbnail for second before shaking his head. The kid had him on that one. Ben spared a quick glance back at Daryl, and then turned to reach his hands to the tiny little hands waving into view.

Daryl let out a sigh and finally disengaged himself from Callie's warm cuddling body. She stirred a bit as he laid her down in a rumpled, curled up little ball, but she didn't wake. Exhausted as she was, he wasn't really surprised. Crawling slowly towards where Ben was struggling with pulling his little sister up into the Hummer, he shook his head. He smacked the boy lightly on the back of his legs and when Ben shifted Daryl reached out and grabbed up the tiny little mute baby girl.

Gracie smiled just a bit as Daryl set her down in the bedding beside her brother. Putting his hands to his thighs as he sat back on his heels. Daryl just stared at the little duo as their eyes skirted around the back of the Hummer before landing on the huddled form of Callie near the front end. Ben was staring at the woman with unsure eyes, his little mouth moving from side to side as he bit at the inside of his cheek. Meanwhile, Gracie had lifted her thumb to her mouth and was chewing on the tiny little nail. The sight of that had Daryl quickly pulling his own thumb nail, which had at some point he didn't quite remember lifted, from his own mouth and shaking his head.

Fuckin' kids.

"Hey Mr. Da—" Ben started before looking up to see the warning glance in Daryl's eyes. He'd told that kid a hundred fuckin' times already to drop the Mister bullshit. Ben smiled just a bit and started again. "Daryl, is Callie okay?"

"Yeah," Daryl said shifting his attention to the woman in question watching her start to roll a bit. Those tiny sounds started to once again escape her lips and both kid's faces drew up into concerned scowls. Daryl left the kids and started making his way towards Callie. Stopping right at her side, he looked back at the still worried faces of the kids. "She's fine."

Without another word, Daryl easily maneuvered the woman back into position at his side. With her head once again resting on his chest, and his arm once again pinned in that uncomfortable position holdin' her there he rolled his eyes. Fuckin' kids were still just sittin' there starin' at him.

"Why's she cryin'?" Ben asked as he shared a glance with his little sister. Gracie kept on eating at the tiny nail on her thumb, her eyes now fixed on Callie's boots.

"She's just havin' a bad dream." Daryl said shifting again in his position, moving to remove the blood covered boots. Before he even had a chance to move though Ben was working to untie the shoe laces of Callie's boots. Daryl watched in awe as the kid seemed to see straight past the blood and gore and just kept his mind on the task at hand. Ben's brow furrowed and he looked up at Daryl.

"Is it cause of what you found at that campsite?" Ben asked, he bit at the inside of his cheek. "Or is it cause of the bad man?"

"Both." Daryl answered gruffly watching as Ben slid one boot off of Callie's foot and then moved to the next one. Ben nodded his head, keeping his eyes on the task at hand. And Daryl found himself strugglin' with that little bit of pride in the kid's strength.

At that point Gracie started crawling towards them. She looked up at Daryl and then worked to climb over Callie's hip and settle in between Callie and Daryl's bodies. Daryl's brow furrowed as the little girl's boney elbows into his ribs as she snuggled her head down under Callie's chin. This was apparently very normal for the slumbering Callie because she simply let out a sigh and moved to accommodate the girl's body. So, begrudgingly Daryl now sat with a fuckin' four-year-old practically on his lap, a woman tucked against his side and a crick in his neck that probably wasn't ever gonna go away.

"So did Mr. Merle do what Rick was sayin' he did?" Ben's timid voice broke Daryl's attention away from the discomfort of his current position and to the little boy sitting on his heels at Callie's feet. The boy's eyes looked haunted, like he really didn't want to ask, but couldn't help but need to know. Merle had been that boy's friend-fuckin' strange as that was to admit- and Daryl didn't really want to think about what was going through his little mind right now.

Shit, it was probably the same thing going through his.

"Don't know what Rick's sayin," Daryl said quietly in return. "Don't know what Merle did or didn't do either. Ain't something to worry 'bout now. You two shouldn't a been hearin' that anyway. Ain't talk for kid's ears."

"You think he did," Ben said quietly ignoring Daryl's last statement completely. "It's okay to say so. I'm not a little kid. I can take it."

Daryl smirked at the boy sitting in front of him tryin' to be a man. He and Ben locked eyes for a long time, and finally Daryl shrugged just a bit and opened up his free arm, waving his hand once in a harsh arc of a motion.

"Don't matter in the long run," Daryl said as Ben bit at the inside of his cheek. "Merle's still Merle. If he did that shit, then he had a reason." Ben nodded and slowly made his way over to Daryl's free side and settled himself gingerly in. He put his head to Daryl's side, his eyes looking at the top of his sister's head and Callie's face, his tiny hand scratching at the fabric of Daryl's shirt. Very lightly Daryl settled his arm along Ben's bruised shoulders, feeling the boy flinch just a bit. It was just as he'd done with the boy when they first arrived and he was trying to help him get to sleep. That flinch still echoing wrong in Daryl's chest and stomach. Daryl let out a sigh and rolled his head up to look at the ceiling.

"Merle's your big brother," Ben said after what seemed like forever. Daryl slid his eyes down to the top of the kid's head and watched as Ben's fingers tapped along Daryl's chest near his sister's curly head. "My daddy always said that being big brothers was the most important job in the world. That they had to protect their little sisters or brothers, no matter what. And teach 'em how to be brave when they didn't think they could be." Daryl's eyes narrowed as he listened to the kid talk. "I want to be that for Gracie. Like Merle was that for you. I think knowing you and Merle has helped me be better at that."

The kid was talking jibberish. Whether it was from the obvious lack of sleep, or something else- he wasn't really making much sense to Daryl. Where the fuck was this shit comin' from? What was he goin' on about all this Merle bein' Daryl's big brother shit for?

"You're right," Ben said finally as if he hadn't said anything before. "No matter what anyone else says. Merle is your brother, and you're right. If he did that stuff to those people back there, then he had to have a good reason." Ben nodded his head finally, as if that was just fuckin' that and Daryl's brow narrowed again. The boy practically whispered his last words, "He just had to."

Daryl didn't respond. Fuck, he didn't really know how to. Instead he let out a long sigh and stared out the open tailgate of the Hummer. Out towards where that fuckin' box truck was. His mind trying to wrap around how this little kid could have such faith in a man that Daryl was findin' it hard to recognize anymore. Actions spoke louder than words, and right now Merle's apparent actions were screamin' a whole different story than what Ben was spoutin' off.

They sat there for God knew how long, all of them snuggled up together in the fuckin' sweltering heat of the late summer night. The sun may have gone down, but it was still early enough in the evening that the heat had yet to fully dissipate. Add to that their combined body heat and you had yourself a fuckin' oven in the back of that Hummer.

"You know," Ben said stifling a long yawn, causing Daryl's eyes to skip down to the boy that he'd thought had been sleeping. "I think my daddy woulda liked you." Ben continued rubbing the back of his hand over his eyes roughly, as if the motion would knock the sleepiness out of them. Daryl's brow narrowed as he caught the tilt of a smile on Ben's lips. The boy stifled another yawn, his eyes barely open when he looked up at Daryl. "Not mom. She'd a hated you. She hated all dad's cool friends." Daryl smirked at the boy, watching yet another yawn almost take over the kid's face. Gracie's head moved a bit and Daryl looked to see the little girl glancing at them over her shoulder, while Ben continued in his sleepy tone. "Callie likes you."

"Yeah?" Daryl said not able to contain the chuckle as the boy smiled widely. Gracie at that point gave a look that she must have learned from Callie, a look that said one word loud and clear. 'Idiot'. Daryl pushed her head with one finger and faced her back towards the still sleeping Callie.

"Yeah," Ben nodded. "She never snuggled up with Danny like this. I saw her sock him in the stomach after he tried to kiss her once. Then they both laughed." Daryl raised a brow at that, surprised in a way at the kid's confession. Daryl's gaze slipped to Callie for a second, feeling her hand tighten in his shirt just a bit as she struggled to find a comfortable spot to settle her hips with both him and Gracie's weight pushing against her. He'd always figured she and Danny had something going on, at least earlier, when they first arrived at the Quarry. I mean they were too close for it to be otherwise.

In Daryl's world men and women weren't close like that unless they was fuckin'.

But the longer they'd been there, the more he'd watched 'em. He realized that he, and the rest of the fuckin' camp, had been mistaken there. Whether it was Danny's doing, or Callie's, or both, there was a decided platonic status to their relationship.

A fact that had at one point made Daryl very happy. Thinking that's all that would be between them. And then things flipped, and he wasn't really sure when that even happened. Or who it happened to first. He was pretty sure now that whatever was going on between him and the former bartender in his arms would never be able to be described as fuckin' platonic.

"I'm hot," Ben said idly as he moved around at Daryl's side. "Aren't you hot?"

"Why ain't your mouth shuttin' and your eyes fuckin' followin'?" Daryl spat back at the boy, ignoring his whine. "Sister's fuckin' out like a light, so's your mo—Callie." Daryl caught himself before he'd gotten the whole word out but Ben was still looking up at him as if he'd said it. Momma. Fuck, the woman was pretty much his momma now, but that boy wasn't ready to be callin' no one that. Probably wouldn't be for a long time. "You decided to come in here. Shut your mouth and relax."

"But I'm hot," Ben whined and moved again and Daryl let out a gruff sigh.

"Alright, that's it," Daryl pushed up slightly and Ben moved away rubbing at his tired eyes a pout on his little mouth. "We're leaving. Callie needs her sleep. Which means the two of you are headin' into that store and snugglin' up with someone else tonight."

At that point, the supposedly sleeping Gracie's head shot up, and began to shake. Daryl scooted away from Callie and pushed at Ben to get moving. Settling himself at Callie's feet, he put both hands to his knees again and stared at the girl still trying to stay curled into Callie. Daryl reached forward, grabbing the tiny little thing. She fought a bit, and pouted when he sat her down in front of him. Getting in the girl's face he caught her little blue orbs with his own.

"You tell me you want to stay, and I'll let ya," Daryl said in a very calm tone. "You say the word, and you got it, Itty-bit." Daryl continued to stare at the girl, and then watched as she lifted her hand again putting that thumbnail into her mouth. He shook his head and lifted his hand lightly pulling her hand away from her mouth. "Ain't a good habit."

With that Daryl ushered both kids to the end of the Hummer and then hopped out himself. He grabbed on to Ben, and lowered him to the ground and then did the same for his silent little sister. Both kids looked up at him, and Daryl crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at them. Shifting his eyes back into the Hummer watching Callie stretch herself out and get comfortable.

"She'll be okay?" Ben asked through another yawn. Daryl looked down and put his hand to the boy's head, turning him towards the store.

"I told you before, I'd take care of her," Daryl said gruffly, thinking back to the ride to the CDC when Ben had asked him the same question. When Callie had been practically on her deathbed. He'd meant it differently then, meant it in a sense that he wasn't ever gonna be explainin' to the kid, but the sentiment was the same. "I'm gonna take care of her. Now stop worryin' and get movin', little man."

Ben smiled up at Daryl, yawned and then started walking. Daryl looked back at Callie, then lifted the tailgate up to offer her slumbering form a bit more protection. His crossbow was still settled in there with her, waiting for him to come back. And he stared at it long and hard for a second before finally shaking his fuckin' head at himself. Stepping in between the two little kids, Daryl's hand lifted to his mouth as they started walking. He bit at his thumbnail, his eyes on the ground as he walked.

God, he could feel the gaze of everyone there land on him as he walked. He hated that sensation; eyes on him, askin' questions, makin' assumptions. He hated it with a passion. Stiffening his back, Daryl lifted his gaze and met those stares head on. One of his hands fell to the top of Ben's head as the kid practically fell asleep on his feet, and his other fell to his side. He was about to slide it up to Gracie's head when he felt the little girl wrap her tiny little fingers around his rough pinky. His eyes slipped down and he saw the girl lift her other hand to her mouth and bite again at her nail.

Daryl rolled his eyes at the little girl and kept both of the kids movin' towards the group. The group that was pretending not to be watchin' them. The group that was tryin' not to let him see those fuckin' smiles. Daryl's eyes hit Rick's and the flat out grin he saw there on the former Sheriff's face had him growling.

"Way to keep an eye on 'em," Daryl grumbled as he continued on to where he saw Miles fiddling with something at the entrance to the convenience store.

"Figured you had it handled, Daryl." Rick said back with a shake of his head as Daryl continued towards the slightly chuckling Miles. Just as Daryl's head had turned forward again a flash illuminated the area and that familiar sound of Ben's camera going off echoed in the parking lot.

"Now that's just fuckin' sweet," Miles was saying as he pulled the photo out of the camera. Ben was yawning widely as he looked up at the kid smirking at his handy work. Daryl pushed Ben and Gracie towards the laughing kid.

"Gimme that," Daryl said taking the photo and pushed the camera back at Miles' chest. "And get them kids into bed." Miles laughed and ruffled Ben's hair as Gracie slipped behind him and into the store. "One more chuckle outta you, and I'm gonna shove that fuckin' camera up your ass."

"Yeah, sure bad-ass," Miles said shaking his head as he smiled down at Ben. "Right after readin' them a story and tuckin' 'em in you can come on and shove that up my-" Daryl lunged forward and Miles shifted back laughing but raising his hands in defeat, the camera left to swing on his neck. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm shuttin' up. C'mon guys, let's get you settled."

Daryl watched Miles lead the sleepy kids into the store, and then lifted the photo and looked at it. His jaw clenched, as he looked at the two kids standing next to him. His eyes slipped over to the rest of the group landing right on the form of Carl sitting beside his father.

Dark hair, pale skin.

Daryl's eyes narrowed, his mind instantly going to the woods. To a pit full of bodies. A boy with dark hair and pale skin. A boy with dead eyes staring up at him and a bullet hole through his head. Daryl's eyes slipped to the RV and the distaste in his mouth was almost too much to take.

He had to check. Had to be sure.

Daryl slowly made his way towards the RV, knowing that the photo he needed was still in Danny's pocket. Where it always was. He fiddled with the photo in his hand. Letting out a sigh as he walked back towards where Danny lay he folded up the photo of him, Gracie and Ben and put it into his own back pocket.

And that's where that photo would stay, for a long time. Days later he would take the time to scrawl the kids names on the bottom. Not that he'd ever forget them, but he just felt like he needed to. That fold down the middle would be worn in over the years, almost distorting Daryl's face. But that didn't matter. Daryl didn't need a fuckin' photo of himself.

_AN: Okay, so this one-in my opinion-probably could have fit right into NM: LOVE. Settled nice and neat right between chapter 4 and 5. Goodness, I think I'm gonna have to tell everyone in the next chapter of NM: LOVE to head over and read this one. I hope you guys liked it. I know I enjoyed writing it._

_Much Love!_


	11. Romance: Dixon Style

**A Thousand Words**

Don't ask where the hell this one came from… it just popped into my head and I really wanted to write it. A bit of a funny if not a bit sick and twisted tale…

**Romance: Dixon Style**

_A.K.A. How to get Merle to bring you flowers._

_Honestly, Callie walked right into this one. _

_The photo was Danny's favorite, and the first that he'd actually ever taken using Ben's Polaroid. It was daytime, early morning or possibly early afternoon. It showed Merle Dixon, in all his sweaty, dirty glory a couple of dead rabbits slung over one shoulder, his rifle over the other. One hand was scratching idly at his crotch, while the other was held out in front of him gripping a tiny bouquet of what could best be described as weeds. The few dandelions stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the green. And there was Callie, staring wide-eyed and open mouthed at that little bouquet. The tilt of her lips showing a sneering disgust, while both of her hands were held at shoulder height fingers spread wide, and her footing looking as if she were taking a step back. _

_And honestly…if Merle fuckin' Dixon was comin' at you with that smile and a bouquet…you'd be backin' the fuck up too._

* * *

Four days.

They'd been at this little camp for four days now, and already it was feeling like home. Or as close as you could get to home during a Goddamned apocalypse. Callie smiled as she watched Ben and Gracie sitting in the makeshift school area with the other younger kids. The strange sense of ease that settled over her when she saw the kids smiling widely at the short-haired woman-Callie's mouth twitched to the side. Karen? No, Carol.

Seeing the kids smile up at Carol and Lori as they helped them to write, read and otherwise occupy their minds with mundane tasks-tasks that not only helped the kids to find some semblance of normalcy in this new existence, but probably helped the women just as much—brought an unbidden smile to Callie's lips. She and Danny had never thought to do that with the kids. Honestly the thought had never even crossed their minds.

Which was really made all the more surprising by the fact that Danny was a fucking teacher.

Running her hands through her still slightly damp hair, Callie stretched out her bare legs and wiggled her toes. Her body was still adjusting to being able to relax, even if it was just a bit more than she used to. Usually when they stopped somewhere, it wasn't ever for this long. Three days had been the most time they'd spent at a quick-stop convenience store. And that had been because Nina, Gracie and Miles hadn't been feeling well and needed the time to rest before they got on the road again.

So hitting day four, well it was a bit on the unsettling side for Callie. Strange how you could get so used to just moving from place to place in so short a time.

Callie lifted her knees just a bit, and rested her forearms on top as she spotted Miles and Danny walking slowly back from the lake area. The boys looked to be freshly washed and happy about it. Bathing. Another odd little task that you never thought would add that much needed sense of normalcy back to your life. She watched the two as they trudged through the camp, smiling to each other as they spoke.

Almost involuntarily Callie's eyes skipped back to where she knew the last member of their ragtag group sat. Jenna was sitting next to Amy in one of the many lawn chairs settled under the awning of the RV, her nose pressed into some book she'd no doubt grabbed from Dale's makeshift library. The girl was still working through the loss of her brother and her soon-to-be sister-in-law. The pain so recent that it seemed to cause the usually talkative and outgoing girl to huddle in on herself.

Callie smiled just a bit when Amy looked over at her and gave a small smile. A reassuring smile. One that said they were making progress. Callie turned away with a wave of her hand and then brushed at the small bead of sweat that slid down her face.

Callie had been fearful of new groups, hell so had Danny. After their earlier run-ins with a few that left much to be desired, they'd pretty much agreed not to hang around long enough for the other shoe to drop again. Yet here they were.

Sitting around, smiling and making nice with this surprisingly large group of survivors. And strangely, as Callie watched Danny stroll closer towards her, she felt like she was the only one of her group that was still waiting for that other shoe to shove itself well up into their asses. Callie frowned at herself and pulled a bit at her tank top, feeling the sweat cause it to stick to her back. Shifting Callie grabbed up the small plate of unknown meat and canned fruit that Andrea had brought over to her a few moments ago.

Callie smiled and shook her head as another bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. She lowered the sunglasses that she'd had propped up on her head into place over her eyes and brushed away the sticking strands of her hair that had tangled around her neck. The heat of the late summer day was pounding down on the camp area, and for the first time since they got here it really seemed to be taking a toll on everyone. The camp was usually bustling with activity at this time of day. Of course, usually the sun wasn't beating down quite so hard this early.

But today it was, and it was causing everyone to set themselves to those tasks that were meant to keep them as immobile as possible. Callie bit at the inside of her cheek as she brought a forkful of peaches to her mouth, and worked hard to convince herself that the heat was the reason she wasn't working to fully unpack their gear.

The people here were nice. And most of them trustworthy. Almost too ridiculously trustworthy, a fact that had her and Danny sharing smiles and shakes of their heads. Glenn was probably the worst offender, followed quickly by Dale and Amy-but as ridiculous as it seemed to be so trusting nowadays, it was refreshing too. And helped to add to that sense of security that the rest of her crew was apparently feeling here.

There were exceptions though.

Callie's eyes lifted almost unbidden to watch as Ed Peletier waltzed past her. The man she'd made a point of learning the name of. He eyed her with a bit of distain and she let her eyes follow him behind the safety of the dark lenses covering them. Men like that would never cease to give her the heebie jeebies. Always had and always would.

Not even a fucking apocalypse needed to imbed that one into her brain.

Callie's gaze went back to her fork as a familiar shadow passed by her field of vision. Danny plopped down on the ground beside her and she smiled at her plate as he reached over and grabbed a piece of the unknown meat and popped it in his mouth.

"So," Danny said as he chewed, his knees lifted up and arms resting atop them. The man was so at ease that it had her smiling wider and shaking her head as she spared him a quick glance before going for another forkful of peaches. "Heard tell that Merle Dixon was jackin' off watching you take your bath this mornin'."

Callie's fork froze halfway to her mouth, and her eyes skipped over to him. She felt her brows raise on her face, no doubt peeking out from behind her sunglasses. Danny's brows raised in that 'yeah, I'm serious' kind of way and he let his hands fall from his knees and settle behind him as he propped himself up. Callie's eyes rolled a bit and she dropped her fork to her plate and handed it over to him.

"Well, there goes breakfast," Callie grumbled, feeling her stomach roll as Danny took the plate from her. He sat up and began forking peaches into his mouth, watching with a strangely straight face as she ran her hands through her hair and shook her head. "Any reason you felt the need to destroy any hope I had of having an appetite for the rest of the day with that lovely mental image? Bored already?"

"Just wanted you to know," Danny said, as he looked at her from the corner of his eye, before angling his gaze back to the plate. He moved the food around with the fork and firmed his lips to a straight line. Callie slipped her sunglasses up on top of her head and she once again rested her forearms on her upraised knees as she stared at him.

"Because it's the type of thing that every girl wants to hear?" Callie quipped, waiting for the smile that she'd grown accustomed to seeing on the man's face when he was joking around.

"Because I don't want to repeat past mistakes," Danny said quietly, his eyes finally lifting from the plate and hitting hers. With a bit of shock Callie just held his gaze. Suddenly realizing that she wasn't the only one of their group waiting for the other shoe to drop. Suddenly she realized that Danny Murdock was much better at putting up a front of careless ease than she'd ever given him credit for.

"That wasn't your mistake," Callie said shifting just a bit and putting her hand to his arm. "It's not something I expect you to keep on your shoulders."

"It's gonna be with me 'till the day I die, Cal." Danny said clenching his jaw as he put the plate down just a bit. They stared at each other for a good long time until finally Danny picked up a forkful of peaches and Callie shook away the wetness that had filled her eyes. "I wanted to make sure you were aware. Make sure you weren't caught off guard by anything he might try."

Callie's mouth contorted into a sickened grimace at the thought of Merle Dixon jacking off while watching her. Her eyes slipped to where she could just barely make out the Dixon's set up across camp. Away from everyone else, whether it was done by their own choice or just a product of the ill-concealed contempt that the rest of the camp had for the men was unknown. But if Callie had to guess, it was probably a bit of both.

She could see Merle's brother, Daryl, sitting on an old picnic table working at whittling away at a few sticks. And Merle sitting not far off from that just lounging back on a tree with his hands behind his head, possibly sleeping but she couldn't tell from this distance. Shit, she thought with a smile, it was so damn hot those two usually active sons of bitches were even taking a break.

She watched them for a bit longer before her brow creased and she shifted her attention again to the man beside her eating her breakfast. Grabbing a peach from the plate she caught the humored tilt to his lips and smiled back quickly before shaking her head.

"So where'd you hear your lovely bit of info?" Callie turned to watch Danny's smile falter just a bit as he slowed his chewing and skipped his gaze quickly up to hers.

"Daryl," Danny said in a quiet tone. Both of their gazes slipped back to the Dixon's camp, just in time to catch Daryl looking at them. Just as fast as Callie felt the redneck's gaze on her it was gone, and he was back to looking at the soon to be arrow in his hand.

"No shit," Callie said furrowing her brow as she continued to watch the man in question. They may have only been here for four days, but shit, one day was long enough to catch on to the uninhibited sense of loyalty between the Dixon brothers. To think that Daryl would tell Danny something-

God, she'd only heard the man utter like ten words, none of which were friendly, before that.

To think that Daryl would apparently seek out and tell Danny about Merle -she shuddered a bit-doing what he was doing. Well, it was odd.

"Yeah," Danny said shoving a peach into his mouth and shaking his fork at her causing her attention to slip back to him as her arm was splattered with peach juice. "Caught me off guard to. Didn't think the fucker could talk. Doesn't know my name, called me 'hey dumbass'." Danny shrugged and Callie lifted a palm to him in the 'if the shoe fits' motion that he loved to use. He flipped her off and swallowed and pointed his fork accusingly towards the Dixon's camp. "Didn't really sit with me to think that even Merle's brother thought you should be on guard. Told me I needed to 'Watch my fuckin' woman'," Danny stopped and grinned at her and Callie shook her head chuckling. "Said to 'Watch her, and make sure her pretty little naked ass was covered up' that they 'didn't need that kind of shit to distract 'em', and that Merle ain't one to be keepin' his activities quiet for long, and for you to just watch the fuck out for shit."

"Aww," Callie said with a sarcastic smile as she nudged Danny's shoulder. "He thinks I'm pretty."

"Honestly, that's what your picking out of all that?" Danny said incredulously as Callie chuckled beside him. "I'm trying to be serious here, Cal."

"I know. I know," Callie said still chuckling a bit and raising her hands in surrender.

"Honest to God," Danny shook his head and pointed his fork in the direction of Daryl. "That man," he pointed again. "I thought he was fuckin' mute. Hasn't said so much as a few words to any of us in four days. Then all of a sudden he's Captain-fuckin'-Chatty telling me to watch my naked woman's ass around his fuck-up of a brother." Callie worked to stop her chuckling by biting her lower lip as she looked at the man beside her. "Excuse me for takin' that pretty fuckin' serious."

Callie continued to bite on her lower lip as Danny prodded angrily at the food on the plate. His eyes had hit that plate and seemed to be stuck there, feeling worse than he needed to. Feeling responsible yet again for things that had been well beyond either of them at the time. They'd learned a lot since those first few weeks of this whole shit-storm. Learned most of it the hard way. Callie tilted her head to the side, listening to Danny grumble a bit beside her.

Lifting her hand she grabbed onto the shoulder of his shirt and dragged him to her. Planting a kiss at his sweaty temple she earned a furrowed brow of confusion from the man as she pushed him away. Pushing to her feet she brushed her hands over the backside of her jean shorts and then down her slightly sweaty bare legs. Danny eyed her with a bit of apprehension as she smiled over at him and then began walking towards the Dixon's camp area.

"Where are you goin'?" Danny said tossing his plate aside and scrambling to his feet. He shifted his gaze to where he had apparently caught the attention of a few of the other camp members and shuffled after her.

"I'm gonna go talk to my admirer," Callie said with a wave over her shoulder and a smile. "Feel free to tag along."

"Son of a bitch," Danny said pushing forward to follow her.

Callie worked her way towards the Dixon's camp area, and found her footfalls getting a bit slower the closer she got. This was quite possibly one of stupidest things she'd ever done. But really, she liked it here. She liked the fact that the kids seemed to be getting comfortable. And she liked the idea that maybe, just maybe they'd found a safe place to hunker down for a longer than a fucking week. So, the fact that some dumb-fuck like Merle Dixon was making Danny feel like they weren't safe.

Fuckin' Danny of all people.

Well, she just felt the need to take all of that weight from the jovial man's shoulders. And honestly, from her own as well.

Callie waltzed right into their little camp set-up, right past the slightly shocked gaze of Daryl as he looked up from his whittling and watched her. She gave him a small smile, before turning her gaze back to the man lounging in the shade of the tree. His white wife beater was soaked through with sweat and dirt and she idly wondered when the last time Merle Dixon had taken a bath was. Shaking her head she came to a stop before him, her eyes sliding towards where Danny had come to a halt to watch near Daryl at the picnic table.

"Dixon," Callie said with a bit of a smile, her right hand rubbing at the bead of sweat trickling down the side of her neck.

Merle's eyes opened slowly, a leer of a smile sliding onto his lips. His eyes roved her from toes to breasts, not once sliding past her neck to meet her eyes. He did it with conviction, tongue sliding out and wetting his lips as his arms fell from their place behind his head. One idly scratching a path down his chest right to his crotch.

Callie smiled, she really couldn't help it, because strangely with just that simple way of regarding her all of the tension she'd felt building had melted away. Her shoulders slacked a little and she shot a reassuring look back at Danny who furrowed his brow along with Daryl when she smiled down at Merle.

No matter how skeevy Merle may have been. No matter how much the rest of this camp apparently hated and despised him, Callie just couldn't bring herself to worry much about him. At least not the way that Danny was currently worrying. Merle Dixon wasn't like Ed Peletier. He didn't hide who he was. He embraced it. He showed it loud and clear with every little tilt of his lips, and all the words that flew unfiltered from his lips. Merle Dixon wasn't a man she needed to worry about doing anything to her. He wasn't the type.

If Merle wanted her in any way other than just a visual bit of happy-happy that he could use to alleviate the stress of their lives now, he'd just come out and tell her. But he'd never force her into anything.

"Hello, sweet-cheeks," Merle drawled slowly again letting his eyes slide up her body, lingering on her shorts and hips. This time his eyes did find their way to hers and she couldn't help but tilt her head and smile.

"Sweet-cheeks?" Callie said back holding his leering gaze. Dealing with too many drunk assholes gave her a thick skin for his type of stare. "Not Sugar-tits?" Callie asked, referencing Merle's favorite nickname for Andrea and Amy.

"Nah," Merle let his gaze slip over her again and she cracked a wider grin as he ran his tongue over his teeth. "Blondie's got you beat in the rack department. But you've got you a nice ass. Them cheeks a yours," he let out a low whistle between his teeth and Callie nearly laughed out loud. "I just wanna rub some butter all over 'em and eat 'em up."

"Well, there goes my appetite for the rest of the week," Callie mumbled shaking her head, the smile still in place. She lifted her eyes again and found Merle sitting forward a bit, his hand itching yet again at his chest.

"You want something, sweet-cheeks? Need something from good ol' Merle?" Merle again licked his lips and Callie firmed hers into a nice little line.

"Honestly," Callie said putting her hands on her hips as she regarded him. "I feel like you owe me," she continued, and his brow lifted in a comical way. "See, I'm working to make this place feel safe for me and mine. And well, I'm hoping to relieve a bit of tension you've caused."

"Oh, I'll gladly relieve your tension, honey." Merle's voice was sickly sweet and his eyes again slid over her.

"Yeah, I heard you were already relieving a bit of your own earlier," Callie said causing his eyes to slip back to hers.

"Did ya now," Merle's eyes shifted away from her, that smile still in place as he looked at Daryl and Danny. His eyes skipped back to her and Callie wiped at the sweat on her neck again, as she crouched down. Merle followed her hand as she slid it off of her neck and settled it at the knife that she wore strapped to her thigh. His head tilted as he watched her fingers slide over the hilt and he again slid his eyes to hers.

"Yeah," Callie said nodding and smiling wide. "Yeah I did. So I figured you owed me something." Merle let out a huff of a breath that could have been a grunt or a laugh. He flipped a palm up at her and wiggled his fingers in a 'let me have it, bitch' motion that had her grinning. "I just want to hear the words that you and me got a bit of an understanding. That you fully realize and understand that, while I really don't see you the type, no matter what type of front you like to pull up for everyone else," Merle's head tilted as she spoke, his brow furrowing just a bit and his leering smile fading just a bit. "Yeah. While I don't see you the type, I need you to understand that if you ever think of takin' that little bit of fun you like to have by yourself even one step closer to me," she leaned a bit closer and Merle mockingly did as well his smile growing once again. "I will cut your dick off faster than you can fuckin' blink."

And just as she'd expected, Merle laughed. That loud whooping laugh that had greeted her on her first day, and that she'd heard bellowing around her each and every day that had followed that. He leaned back, his hand lifting to rub at his stubble-covered chin as he regarded her through humor-filled eyes.

"Well, shit honey," Merle said sitting back and letting out a chuckle as he rubbed at his chin. "Ruin all a man's fun." Callie settled her forearms on her knees as she stayed in her low crouched position before the now chuckling man. She smiled at him, watching as his eyes slipped to Daryl and Danny in such a quick motion that if she hadn't been looking she would have missed it. When his eyes connected with hers again he licked his bottom lip before running his thumb over it.

"Well?" Callie said cocking her head to the side. "We got us an understanding there, Merle?"

"Sure sweet-cheeks," Merle said with a smile, letting his hand fall from his chin. "You wanna shake on it? Ain't nothin' official without a shake." He held out the dirty hand in front of him and Callie shook her head while rolling her eyes.

She reached out and grabbed his hand, and honestly, she should have fucking known better. He held her hand tight for one second before pulling on her and causing her to fall forward. Her other hand crashed into his chest, as he pulled the hand he held to settle at his shoulder. His hand flipped so that he was holding her wrist, pushing the metal of the half of a handcuff deep into her skin.

"You may wanna rethink this bargain," Merle said quietly pulling so that her ear was at his lips. "You'd _love_ it." Callie could hear the sound of rustling not far off, and a bit of grumbling going on between Danny and Daryl. Merle let her go just a bit, as if he just felt the cuff under his palm and realized he was probably causing a bit more pain than he meant to. Hell, he probably didn't mean to cause her any pain by the look that fluttered quickly over his face. He licked his lips again and furrowed his brow as Callie pulled back. "What you do to get these things on?"

Merle's hand tightened again, not painfully, just enough to let Callie know what he was talking about. Like she didn't already.

"Bar fight," Callie said with a smile. Merle scoffed in that way that only Merle could and pulled on her again.

"Bullshit," Merle said leering in her face. "You know, I'm gonna make it my personal duty to figure out what it really was. Figure out all 'bout you. Little jail-bird." Her anger making a comeback, Callie pulled away a bit, but he held tight. She wiggled her fingers a bit when he wouldn't let go, and finally just had enough. She grabbed tight to his earlobe and pulled down hard causing him to let go.

"Fuck, woman!" Merle yelled as she continued to pull on his ear while she worked her way to a standing position. He lashed out with his arm and she finally let go, her hand working at her now sore wrist. She spared a look behind her and saw that surprisingly Danny was holding Daryl off from coming over to them. "Fuckin' pulled my ear. What kind of bitch-fight move is that?"

"The kind that got your fuckin' hand off my wrist," Callie shot back, putting her hands to her hips and staring down at the man angrily rubbing at his ear before her. "We got us an understanding Merle?"

"Yeah, yeah." Merle lifted his hand from his ear and waved it around as if he was bored with the conversation now.

"Good," Callie said wiping her hands over her bare knees that were now covered in dirty from kneeling in the ground between Merle's legs. She shook her head and smiled down at the man still idly rubbing at his ear. "Honestly, the apocalypse hits and a man forgets all about fuckin' romance huh? You know flowers," Merle's eyes slipped up to her face, the look of anger being replaced by his usual leer.

"You want some fuckin' flowers, jail-bird?" Merle said with a wide ass grin.

"It'd be nice," Callie said with a smirk before turning to leave. "Good talk, Merle. Let's never have it again." Callie walked over to where Danny and Daryl had broke off their grumbling and she slung her arm over Danny's shoulder. He looked at her and shook his head as she led him off towards their little set-up. "You feel better now?"

"Is it wrong if I say yes?" Danny said with a chuckle, as he scratched at the back of his head. "You must have been one hell of a bartender. Just kickin' ass all over Uncle Tug's place, weren't ya?" Callie chuckled and nodded her head, slipping her gaze back behind her quickly to watch Daryl walk up to Merle.

The next morning Callie was standing outside of the tent that she shared with Jenna and Gracie, working her still damp hair into a messy ponytail when she heard the crunch of footsteps behind her. She shifted her gaze to where she knew Danny was sitting with Ben and raised a brow.

"Yo jail-bird," Merle's voice called out and had Callie turning with wide eyes. Merle was sauntering through camp, Daryl shaking his head a few feet behind. The rabbit slung over Merle's one shoulder along with his rifle was a clue as to where he was coming from. But the bunch of weeds and dandelions held tightly in the other was putting a bit of a shadow over her current theory.

"Merle," Callie said raising a brow when he stopped about an arm's length away from her.

"Was thinkin' 'bout you this mornin'," Merle said, that leering smile of his cracking wider along his lips as he let his eyes slide over her body. His free hand was rubbing and then idly scratching at his chest, making a slow path down the sweaty, dirty fabric of what she figured was the same dame white wife beater he'd been stewing in yesterday. His gaze lingered on her legs and hips and then traveled up again, hitting square on her chest before slipping up to her eyes again. "Figured I owed you a little somethin'."

At that point Merle's scratching hand had reached his crotch where he wasn't so much scratching as adjusting and he was making sure she knew he was doing it. And then he was lifting that hand clutching his bouquet of weeds up and out to her. She stared at him for a minute.

And then it clicked.

She instinctively brought her hands to shoulder height as she stared at that little bouquet in shock and disgust. Her feet began moving to take her a step away, and Merle was chuckling and watching her with such a fucking delighted expression that her mouth was left hanging open with nothing coming out.

The sound of Ben's Polaroid camera going off sparked Callie's head to clear enough for her to finally blink. She backed up and raised her hands to the sky, her eyes closing as her head began to shake.

"Oh God!" Callie said, shaking her head. Her eyes were drawn back to that little bouquet. "Oh God!" He was thinking about her this morning. Her head shook again and she turned her back. And then he brought her flowers. "Oh God!"

Danny was just about dying at this point, laughing so hard that he was clinging to little Ben's shoulders to try and keep himself from falling to the ground completely. The camera forgotten on the ground, but he was gripping onto the picture he took and waving it in the air. Ben was staring at the whole scene, not really understanding what was going on but laughing right along with Danny. Merle slipped his eyes to the boy and gave a big dramatic wink and Ben smiled even wider.

Callie picked up Merle laughing as well, his chuckling drawing her eyes back to him. He lifted his brows at her, and wiggled them while he shook his little bouquet

"C'mon now, jail-bird. Ya said ya wanted flowers," Merle said and she rolled her eyes to the sky and her head along her shoulders before turning fully away from him again.

"Oh God!" Callie's arms flew out to the side as she started walking towards the RV where a whole bunch of utterly confused people were looking at her. She shook her head and then shook out her arms trying to shake off the feel of ick that had settled over her entire body. "Fuckin' walked right into that one."

_AN: I have absolutely no idea what prompted me to write this. It started with me trying to figure out how Merle and Callie got to the strange point in their relationship that some of the other snippets have shown… also how Merle got started on trying to figure out what Callie did to get her cuffs, and how she got the nickname jail-bird. I hope you all liked it, cause I had fun writing it. _


	12. He Was A Friend Of Mine

**A Thousand Words**

_Okay, so I've really been writing A SHIT TON of the sads lately… and this one, while probably sad could probably be considered more like bitter sweet. The title for this one is a song by Bob Dylan, one of the many in my Soundtrack listing for this crazy ass fic that I write. The idea for this snippet was one that hit me as soon as I heard this song…and I had planned on working it into the regular fic, but it didn't seem like it would fit properly._

_So I offer it here… cause I know a lot of you read both. For those wondering this fits into an indeterminate point of time at the Greene Farm.  
_

_The format is going to be a bit like the regular fic, but don't worry there's a photo or two… For ref, song lyrics are gonna be **bold italic**, photo description is going to be plain italic, and as usual the normal occurrences are in normal font. _

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**He Was A Friend of Mine**

_The photo was taken from afar, and you couldn't really see anything but the dark silhouettes of people sitting at a small fire. That blazing red-orange light the only bit of true color in the black and gray washed tones of the fuzzy photo. There were no tents to be seen, no cars, no nothing. The group was settled away from the farm in the green pastures, distancing themselves from the world around. One figure sat upon the fence, while stood on the ground beside leaning against it. The two tiny figures, which had to be Gracie and Ben sat huddled close to the fire. Ben, the little bigger of the two was holding a stick to the fire, while Gracie was settled between the legs of Callie (wild curly hair against the backdrop of a dark blue-gray sky giving the woman away). Gracie's hands also held a stick, guided by Callie towards the fire. _

_Directly across from her sat another dark figure holding a stick up to someone standing to his right. Another dark shape was outlined crouched down near where Callie and Gracie sat, head ducked as it lifted something to its lips. Another female figure stood behind him, her arms crossed over her chest as she just looked out at the group around the fire. _

_Figures could be seen walking towards the scene, Lori's long shadow and free blowing long hair with a hand to the shoulders of Carl (the outline of Rick's campaign hat giving him away). Carol, her short cropped hair distinct in the wan light they walked in, walked beside them, her head turned as she spoke to Lori. _

_**He was a friend of mine, **_

_**He was a friend of mine,**_

_**Everytime I think about him now,**_

_**Lord I can't keep from cryin',**_

'_**Cause he was a friend of mine,**_

"I miss Merle," Ben's tiny voice sounded and Danny's head perked from where it had fallen on to his chest. The boy was about knee high in water, his pants rolled up to his knees but still soaked up to his waist. He was covered in mud up to his elbows, and his hands were grasping a wiggling frog.

Danny's brow furrowed just a bit and he shifted awkwardly on his hip so that he could look over his shoulder at Miles. Miles raised a brow back and shrugged as he leaned the bulk of his frame against the tree behind him.

"Why?" Carl's voice echoed out causing both Miles and Danny to look back towards the small pond where the other boy was sitting at the edge. His skin still looked so ashen and pale from his brush with death, but the sun light and fresh air was starting to do its work and had given the kid's cheeks a bit of a reddened tint that had Danny smiling. Carl's voice held no malice, no disgust; it was just a question posed in an effort to understand something that seemed just too strange to be true.

Ben shifted to look at Carl, and he made a face, obviously trying to figure out how to answer Carl's question in a way that would make the other boy understand. Ben waddled through the pond towards where Carl was sitting and waited for the older boy to lift the plank off of the bucket beside him so that Ben could deposit his latest catch.

"Back home I had friends from school," Ben started quietly. "Not a lot, I kinda got beat up on a bit 'cause I'm small for my age." Ben grimaced as he looked around at everyone, his head ducking a bit. Danny watched Carl's head nod a bit in understanding as he watched Ben drop the frog into the bucket and then replacing the lid quickly so it couldn't escape. "But there were a few that didn't, and they used to come over all the time. We had a big house, and mom and dad liked to spoil us. At least that's what Gramma always said."

Miles let out a gruff scoffing laugh and Danny shifted his smiling eyes up to the older boy for a moment.

"So my friends always came over and played at our house," Ben's face shifted into a strange expression that Danny swore he had to have learned from all the time he spent with Daryl. The look had him chuckling and shaking his head, wishing he would have brought the kid's camera. "But they didn't really play with me. They played with my toys, and swam in our pool and everything, but they didn't really play with me. I was always the one who was it, and never the one being chased."

At that point Ben looked up and scrunched his face at Danny. Danny smiled and nodded his head, wondering a bit at the wisdom of children. Carl shifted a bit and nodded his head and Ben wiped his hands on his pants and then turned towards the pond.

"Then everything happened and," Ben sniffed and shook his head. Carl shifted to look back at Danny, his eyes the same blue color as his father's, so clear and so understanding of the little boy's plight, but his mind still a bit too young to understand how to help him. Danny shifted and began working his way to his feet so he could comfort Ben, but Miles put a hand to his shoulder staying him. Miles jutted his chin towards the pond and Danny turned to see Ben slam his hands back into the water and come up smiling with another frog.

"Then we got to the Quarry, and things kinda went back to the way they were," Ben said looking down at the frog in his hands. "You guys were all friends already, and it was hard to try and fit into your group." He looked at Carl and shrugged. "Plus, older kids don't really like to play with little kids, right?" Carl grimaced and Ben smiled a bit. "But that didn't really matter to Merle. Merle and Daryl, they let me chase 'em." Ben said his grin getting bigger as he stared at Carl.

Carl's head shot back a bit in surprise at the statment, and Danny watched a grin slide onto his face.

"They let you chase 'em?" Carl asked a bit of a chuckle in his voice. "Really?"

"Uh huh," Ben said nodding his head as he came closer. Carl almost excitedly removed the lid from the bucket and stared up at Ben, anxiously waiting for him to continue. "You guys were all playin', and I didn't really know how to join in. Then Merle came by and stole my backpack," Ben looked over to Danny who was nodding now, remembering that day that seemed so long ago now. Miles let out a bark of laughter and muttered 'oh yeah'. "I had to chase him down to the lake, 'fore he let it go. I showed him some of my pictures. That's the day Merle taught me how to catch frogs. Him and Daryl. " Ben put the frog into the bin and again wiped his hands on his dirty pants. "Merle always let me tag along with them, as long as Daryl said it was safe. Daryl taught me how to set a snare, and Merle let me carry his riffle." Ben looked over at Danny with wide eyes. "Don't tell Callie that one. I promised Merle."

Danny made an 'X' over his heart and then made the motion of zipping his lips. Ben nodded, appeased by the pantomime and then looked back to Carl.

"I miss Merle 'cause he was my friend," Ben shrugged and scrunched his face again. "I didn't even have to ask him to be, he just was, ya know?"

"Hey Ben," Carl said getting the kid's attention. "When I get the okay to run around again, I'd love a game of tag. I'll bet you and me could beat the pants off of Glenn and Miles."

"Oh, thems fightin' words, Carl." Miles said chuckling and pointing a finger as the kid looked over his shoulder. "You and them little legs ain't got nothin' on me. And shit, y'all have seen Glenn run. He's a fast mother—" Miles stopped and cleared his throat before continuing. "Fast little Chinaman."

Danny barked out a laugh at Miles' working to curb his colorful vocabulary, and then shook his head. Miles swatted at his shoulder and Danny ducked reaching out a hand to have the kid help him back to his feet. As they worked their way back towards camp Danny from his position at the back of the group, his shotgun settled on his shoulder and his slow limping steps painful but not excruciating. Miles was carrying the bucket of frogs, and Carl and Ben were discussing something. Both boys laughed and then ran towards the camp as Miles swatted a hand out.

Danny shifted his eyes to where Daryl was sitting, his form hunched slightly as he worked to clear reset a few of the feathers on his homemade bolts. Daryl's head lifted watching Ben and Carl slowdown, Carl resting a hand over his abdomen as he smiled and Ben laughing as he pointed at the slowly advancing Miles. Callie approached the two boys and dropped Rick's campaign hat onto Carl's head causing the boy to look up at her. She shifted her eyes over and gave a tilt of her chin to Danny before escorting the boys towards the RV where lunch was obviously ready.

Danny limped his way over to Daryl, whose eyes were still locked on the form of Callie and Ben and he couldn't help but smile. Daryl's gaze shifted when he heard Danny's steps and he raised a brow at Danny's grin.

"What you want, chuckles?" Daryl asked, his experience teaching him to always question that shit-eatin' grin of the other man's.

"I need your help with something," Danny said shifting his hip so it was settled along the downed tree taking a bit of weight off of his bum leg. Daryl raised a brow and Danny shifted his shotgun strap on his shoulder. "Much as I boast a good game," Danny continued raising a brow back at Daryl. "I quite honestly know jack-shit 'bout cookin' up frogs."

_**He died on the road,**_

_**He died on the road,**_

_**He never had enough money **_

_**To pay his room or board**_

_**And he was a friend of mine**_

Daryl put his hand to Ben's head and ruffled his hair. The kid looked up from his spot in front of the tent he shared with Miles and Danny and smiled. Crouching down Daryl rested his forearms on his knees and stared at the mess of Polaroid photos scattered on the ground in front of the kid. They were spread out all around, but on one side there was a small neater looking pile that caught Daryl's eye.

Reaching down Daryl picked up the photo and couldn't help but smirk at it. He remembered it well, the day of the infamous Glenn vs. the snake photo that still made Danny fuckin' fall over laughin' when he looked at it. The photo in his hands wasn't that exact photo, but one of the lead-ins.

_Merle was settled on one knee behind a widely smilin' Ben. His big-ass bear paw hands were settled on the kid's shoulders, and he was obviously shakin' the boy because the photo had caught the kid's head in mid forward-swing. His dirty blond hair falling into his eyes, but that big ass grin still in place. And wrapped around his little outstretched arms was a big motherfuckin' snake that no doubt Merle had given the kid. On the far right hand side of the picture Miles could be seen bent in half he was laughin' so hard. Daryl figured it musta been Danny takin' the photo-strangely there was nothing but a simple 'Me & Merle' written along the bottom. _

Daryl shifted his attention and picked up another, this one he remembered being taken. It was the aftermath of the prank of the century as Danny dubbed that whole damn thing. Daryl chuckled thinking about it. That whole Glenn and the snake thing really hadn't ever been outdone, and still made him laugh too. The photo had been taken by Callie who had snatched the camera out of Ben's hands while he laughed. Daryl remembered watching her as she smiled that smile down on the group, wondering what kind of woman she was to be givin' his dumbass meth-head of a brother such a look.

_They were all rollin' on the ground. Merle had grabbed Ben up and put his little head into the crook of his arm and was rubbing furiously at his disheveled hair. Danny was on his back, his hands akimbo and caught mid swing down to the dirt. Miles was doubled over one hand raised to the air, lookin' like he was askin' someone to stop makin' him laugh so that he could catch his breath. There was only one word written along the bottom,' TROUBLE'._

Daryl settled the photo down and skimmed his hands over the rest of the pile, the pattern of the ones the kid was setting aside easy enough to figure out. His fuckin' brother's face stared out of each of the photos, and the sight had Daryl's stomach knotting just a bit. He fingered one photo, that was just him and Merle standing near his truck, no words on the bottom just their names 'Daryl and Merle'. The angle of the photo was a bit low telling him that it had been taken by the boy himself. He tapped his finger on the photo and shifted his eyes to the kid, who had been watching him intently.

"I look at 'em sometimes," Ben said quietly averting his gaze and settling it back to the photos. "When his face starts to get fuzzy in my head. Don't wanna forget."

Daryl lifted his hand from the pile of photos and then settled his thumbnail to his teeth. He bit at that nail for a few seconds, his eyes shifted out towards the dirt and away from the little boy. When Danny had stopped earlier, Daryl had reluctantly agreed to his plan. Now, seeing just what Danny had been goin' on about up close he was kickin' himself for not doin' it long ago.

Daryl pushed to his feet and stared down at the kid, a harsh frown in place that didn't seem to faze the boy one bit as he looked up at him in the darkness.

"C'mon," Daryl said gruffly causing Ben's brows to lift. Daryl jutted his head indicating over his shoulder and Ben continued to stare. "You don't catch a fuckin' bucket of frogs and let 'em waste, boy. Taught ya better than that."

Ben's confused expression gave way to a sort of surprised excitement that had him rocketing to his feet in a single bound. He smiled so widely at Daryl that Daryl couldn't really help but smirk back. His hand settled on Ben's head as they turned to where Daryl had started the fire far off in the field near the fence. A good distance from the rest of camp, but still well within sight, just in case. Daryl could see Danny and Miles, their shadowed forms setting up a few logs to sit on. A tiny shadow of a figure with bouncing curls was running towards the house.

"Gonna need us a couple a good sticks for roastin'," Daryl said down to Ben as he eyed Gracie's running form. He watched her until he saw Dale wave a hand at him from near the RV, the signal that he had his eyes on her. Daryl gave a nod that he wasn't even sure the old man could see and then returned his attention to the practically bouncing boy beside him. "Ya remember which type of sticks are the best, or do ya -"

"I remember," Ben said excitedly as he ran towards the small area of firewood nearby. Daryl shook his head and came to a stop beside Danny angling his eyes to the bucket near the fire. Danny grinned and slapped Daryl's back before settling his ass along the fence.

_**He never done no wrong,**_

_**He never done no wrong,**_

_**A thousand miles from home,**_

_**And he never harmed no one,**_

_**And he was a friend of mine,**_

Callie ran her hands down her face and shook her head at Rick sitting at the table across from her. He smiled and she shook her head again before shifting her attention to where Glenn was sitting. The three of them had been staring at the maps spread out before them for so long Callie's saw road lines everywhere. She ran her hands down her face one more time and this time Rick actually chuckled.

"I think it's time for a break," Rick said putting both of his hands on the table. Glenn let out a sigh from where he sat and settled his head into his hands as he stared at the map. His eyes angled up and he gave a wan smile.

Callie slipped her hand around the mug that Patricia set down for her and smiled at the woman. She sipped her coffee, fucking good coffee, and smiled at Rick. Patricia handed a cup to Rick and then offered one to Glenn who shook his head, politely declining the offered beverage.

"We've got options," Callie said quietly looking down at her map, and then over to Glenn. Glenn smiled and scratched at his brow before nodding. "Which is good," Callie said shifting her attention back to Rick who sighed and grimaced before taking a sip of his own coffee. "I know you're still hoping that he'll change his mind, Rick. But Carl's up on his feet, and once he gets that okay-"

"I know," Rick said idly shifting his eyes to where Glenn sat. He debated the words he was going to say and Glenn raised a brow. "It's good to have options. We'll have to do some scouting. Maybe you can talk with Maggie and see if she has any suggestions?"

"Sure," Glenn said getting to his feet which caused both Callie and Rick to laugh. "Oh, you meant later." Rick shook his head and shifted his attention at the sound of the screen door opening.

Callie turned as she saw a tiny figure dash past the doorway, her brow narrowing a bit but a smile playing on her lips as she looked to Rick and Glenn. Both men shrugged and waited for Gracie to turn back towards them. A smile lit up the silent little girl's face as she slid around the doorway she'd just passed, Maggie smiling and shaking her head as she pointed a finger over the girl's shoulder at Callie.

Callie slid back in her chair and opened her arms to the little girl as she ran forward. Instead of coming in for a hug, the girl began to tug at Callie's arm fervently. Callie shifted her attention to the still smiling form of Maggie at the doorway, causing the girl's eyes to leave Glenn's for a moment and meet hers.

"Do you know what this is all about?" Callie asked as she got to her feet at the insistence of Gracie's surprisingly strong tugs. Maggie chuckled a bit and tossed her thumb over her shoulder.

"Cletus is havin' himself a barbecue out near the fence," Maggie said, her nickname for Daryl getting a stilted chuckle out of the two men still sitting at the table. Callie tossed her own amused look at Rick and Glenn and both men got to their feet. "Seems to be a bit of a family affair. I'm figurin' she wants y'all to get out there."

Callie shook her head and looked down at the little girl still tugging on her. Rick had joined her at the end of the table now, and Gracie reached up and grabbed his hand too. The pull of her little arm must have been surprising because he stumbled forward a bit and Callie barked out a laugh as he righted himself. He sent wide eyes to her before smiling and letting Gracie pull him along. Callie looked back over her shoulder at the chuckling Glenn and watched him come to a stop near Maggie at the doorway.

"You could come," Glenn said quietly smiling at Maggie. Maggie shook her head and looked over to Callie.

"He's right," Callie said raising her brow. "Don't think anyone would mind." Rick stumbled forward again and shook his head as he shot an amused look back at Maggie. He lifted his other hand and waved her along, but again Maggie shook her head. Callie lifted a brow at Glenn and then shifted her attention back to Maggie. "Don't make me sick Gracie on you," Callie said feeling yet another enthusiastic tug from the silent girl. "She's stronger than she looks, and way more persuasive."

"C'mon," Glenn nudged Maggie in the arm and gave her a big smile. Callie rolled her eyes to Rick and mouthed 'aw, young love' which in turn made Rick snort. Glenn shifted his attention for a moment before returning it to Maggie who was staring at him with a look he couldn't place. "C'mon."

"A'right," Maggie said tossing her arms in the air and shifting her attention around her real quick. "A'right, for a bit." Maggie shook her head and nudged Glenn back.

Callie and Rick let Gracie pretty much pull them out of the house and off towards the far end of the property. The slow setting sun had bathed the area in shadows, but the welcoming sight of a low burning fire near the fence acted as a beacon drawing them towards a nice cozy little scene. Callie smiled as she spotted Daryl and Ben starting to skewer something and she shifted her attention to Rick.

"Ever eaten frogs, Officer Grimes?" Callie said chuckling when he raised a slightly appalled brow at her. She shook her head and pointed a finger at him, while he smiled. "You're in for a treat."

"Frogs," Maggie said, the disgust and disbelief as she shifted her attention from Callie's nodding head to Glenn's raised brow expression. "Seriously? Frogs?"

"It's kind of a," Glenn looked at Callie and then shrugged looking back to Maggie. "Family tradition?" Glenn said lifting his palm out offering the term out to her.

"I like that," Callie said nodding her head a bit as they came to a stop at the little 'barbecue' that Daryl and apparently Danny had set up. Rick spared a questioning look at Callie and she smiled just a bit. "Merle," she said simply and Rick nodded stiffly before shifting his attention back to the set up.

Miles waved his hand at Callie from his perch on the fence and sent a smile to Maggie and Glenn. Callie crossed her arms over her chest, and watched Daryl swat at Danny's hand as he poked a questioning finger at the frog Daryl had just skewered.

"Get outta here, Danny-boy," Daryl huffed swatting again at the man's arm. "Unless ya want me to shove one a these sticks up your ass."

"Yeah, Danny," Ben said sliding away from Danny's hand as it made a grab for Ben's skewer. "Me and Daryl got this. You go sit your ass down."

The snorting laughter from Callie had Daryl's eyes slipping up. He shot her a grin, one that he reserved for her and only her, and she shook her head wagging a finger at them both. Rick crossed his arms over his chest watching as Callie moved past him and settled across the fire from Daryl beside where Ben was roasting his frog. Gracie settled in between Callie's legs and Ben handed his little sister a stick with a small frog on it.

Rick shifted his eyes over to Ben and Daryl as he made his way over toward Danny. Merle. The one subject that was avoided like the plague in his presence. Rick shifted his eyes around the group, catching the small smiles on their faces as they settled in for this 'family tradition' of Merle's and he couldn't help but feel a bit in the wrong for being there. Rick caught Daryl's gaze as he moved past him and the exchange was long and heavy, leaving Rick feeling just a bit more out of place. Rick slid past Daryl, settling in near his back and reached a hand down to help the slow moving Danny to his feet offering a pat to the man's back.

"Thanks," Danny said giving Rick a grin as he raised his brow. Danny smiled and patted Rick's shoulder twice offering a squeeze. "You ready for some frogs," Danny put a hand to his stomach and rubbed it in a circle. "Yum."

"Where's Carl?" Rick said shaking his head a bit and shifting his eyes away from Danny, over towards where Miles was settled on the top of the fence.

"Getting his momma," Ben supplied around a mouthful of frog. Rick chuckled at the kid and watched Daryl shove playfully at the little boy. Ben shoved back and Callie laughed when Daryl nearly fell over. Rick looked up at Miles' low whistle and followed the kid's pointing finger to spot three figures heading towards them. The sight of his campaign hat settled atop Carl's bouncing head as he tugged Lori along behind him had him smiling. "He's excited 'bout tryin' frogs. Said he caught 'em before but never ate 'em. Waste of catchin' if ya ask me." Ben said shrugging and causing everyone to laugh. Ben chuckled and looked up at Rick, smiling eyes blazing in the firelight. "You want a frog, Rick?"

"No, thank you," Rick said raising a hand and trying hard to hide his grimace.

"You sure, brother?" Daryl's voice echoed low over the crackling fire and Rick's eyes immediately fell to the man sitting at the ground in front of him. Daryl looked over his shoulder and held up the skewer he'd been roasting over the fire towards Rick. "They be cookin' up real good."

Rick stared at Daryl for a good long moment before shifting his gaze around at the surrounding group. Callie was looking up at him with a smile and a humored tilt to her brow with little Gracie bobbing her stick in and out of the fire with a grin. Glenn was crouched down picking at the frog on the stick that Callie had handed over to him. Maggie caught his gaze with a quirk of her brow and a shake of her head.

Looking back down to Daryl he caught the man's eye again, watching a slim smirk trail over his lips as he shook the frog on a stick at Rick over his shoulder. Rick bit at his bottom lip before shaking his head and reaching down.

"God fuckin' bless peer pressure," Danny said laughing as Rick stared at the frog with a skeptical tilt to his brow. The group laughed and Daryl nodded as Rick took his first bite of frog.

* * *

"That's a good one," Andrea's voice startled Dale as he stood idly staring at the picture he'd just snapped.

He shifted his eyes to the woman quickly before grimacing down at the picture in his hands. He was too far away to really capture the importance of the moment, but he supposed from certain point of view the hazy dark figures illuminated solely by the bright burning flame held a slight aesthetic appeal.

Ben would probably love it.

Dale held the photo out to Andrea's waiting fingers and let her take a closer look before bending down to finish cleaning up Ben's scattered photos from the ground. The small pile of photos depicting Merle Dixon caught his eye and he shared a small smile with Andrea as she returned the photo to him.

"I think it's as close as Daryl's going to come to a funeral for the man," Andrea said idly, her arms crossing over her chest as she looked out at the group in the distance.

"I wouldn't say funeral per say," Dale said zipping Ben's little backpack shut and getting to his feet. "More like a vigil of sorts."

"Well," Andrea said on a sigh as she let her arms fall. "Whatever it is, I think I'm gonna go pay my respects. And get myself a frog." She raise amused brows at Dale causing the older man to chuckle. She smiled back and took a step smacking her hand off of T-Dog's back. "Come on, you know you want to try it."

"Oh yeah," T-Dog said sarcastically. "I'm just dyin' to try fuckin' frogs." Andrea rolled her eyes and waved the larger man along after her. "Woman you are nuts."

Andrea scoffed and they started off, only making it a few steps before Andrea turned and furrowed her brow at Dale.

"Aren't you coming?" Andrea asked quietly eyeing Dale as he took in a deep breath and shook his head.

"C'mon man," T-Dog said almost incredulously. "You were the one always spoutin' off 'bout givin' both them idiots the benefit of the doubt. If anyone should be at," T-Dog scrunched his face and shot a look at Andrea groping for words. Finally he sighed and lifted a hand waving it at the group near the fence. "Whatever the fuck that is. It's you."

"You go on," Dale said lifting a hand and giving a bit of grimacing smile to them. "I'm gonna stay here," Dale shifted his eyes. "I'm a bit tired."

"You feelin' okay?" Andrea asked taking a step closer until Dale staved her off with a pump of his raised hand and a smile.

"I'm fine," Dale said catching her worried gaze and trying to wave it away. "Really. I'm fine. Just a headache. I'm fine. Go on." With that Andrea shrugged, turning her back and heading off towards the rest of their group. T-Dog slanted a glance over his shoulder at Dale and Dale waved his hand again.

Sighing Dale ran his hand over his head and shifted his eyes to the top of his RV. The dark form of Shane could be seen hunched in the lawn chair atop, his gaze fixed out towards the woods. Dale watched as Shane's attention shifted just a bit towards the group, and even though Dale couldn't see the expression on the man's face in the dark, he could feel the intensity of that stare.

Dale shifted on his feet and looked down at the photo he held, sighing.

_**He was a friend of mine, **_

_**He was a friend of mine,**_

_**Every time I hear his name**_

_**Lord I just can't keep from cryin',**_

'_**Cause he was a friend of mine.**_

_**~He Was A Friend Of Mine/ Bob Dylan**_

_AN: Okay, so I really just wanted to write a snippet, cause it's been SO LONG. I hope y'all enjoyed it, cause it's been floating in my head for a long time._

_Brownie points to anyone who can figure the significance of the line Daryl says to Rick when offering the frog… :)_

_Alright, that's all I got._

_Much love!_


	13. The Master At Work

**A Thousand Words**

_So this was a kind of request from my girl AlabastR, mentioned in a review…Yeah, DUDE you were imaginin' shit, but the idea of the camera coming out at the CDC was just too beautiful for me to pass on. _

_So, here ya go!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Callie and the crew of misfits (Danny, Miles, Jenna, Mike, Nina, Ben and Gracie). _

**The Master At Work**

_There was a fair amount of idiocy, stress, and fear in the air at the CDC, but somehow in the midst of all that, there was a single fleeting moment of hilarity that was captured on film. One single moment, before the shit hit the fan for Callie and the rest. One moment before all hell broke loose. _

_The Polaroid was taken in the cafeteria of the CDC. In the foreground was Callie walking towards the door, caught mid-step, her eyes wide…because T-Dog had caught it at the most fan-fuckin-tastic moment. That moment where the more than slightly tipsy, and bit red-faced Glenn had smacked his hand firmly (and remembering correctly) quite loudly against Callie's lovely retreating rear-end. The photo caught the exact moment of impact, and the wide grin on Glenn's face in juxtaposition to the look of sheer shock showing on Callie's was to this day, priceless. Not far off in the background, at the little table that they'd been sitting at prior Danny can be seen mid fall to the ground, his legs were up towards the ceiling, while his upper half was almost parallel to the ground. The photo catching the wide opened mouth raucous laugh and wind-milling arms only seconds prior to impact with the ground. Miles, drunk off his own ass, was already on the ground, a grin on his red face as he raised his hand up for Glenn to high-five when he made his way back. _

The CDC's cafeteria was a desolate place, the humming of the florescent lights above nothing like Callie's bar back in Georgetown. But somehow, the sight of all those bottles, the knowledge that she was standing in the same room as her brother had stood not so long ago, it gave that large cavernous steel and linoleum room a familiar feel.

It was late, and the only people left in the room were Danny, T-Dog, Glenn and Miles. The latter of which were both already half-past the point of no return with a bottle and glass settled in front of their giggling forms at the small table they'd taken over.

Callie's eyes slipped around the room, surprised at not seeing the unwelcome presence of the military men that she was pretty sure had been told to watch them. Instead, it was just her crew of misfits. She felt Danny's eyes following her as she began to grab bottles from the cabinet, and she shot him a look. His feet skipped off the edge of the table and flattened to the ground, that sly little smirk playing on the edges of lips as he probably read what she was thinking in her tired eyes.

He got to his feet, T-Dog amusedly watching him while at the same time keeping Miles from tipping off of his chair and to the floor. Danny shook his head at the drunken teenager and ran a hand through his dark grown-out locks as he made his way towards her.

"I thought you were gonna try and get some rest," Danny said settling his arms along the empty counter area where the buffet of food usually went. He smirked as she turned and settled bottle after bottle onto the counter. Callie shrugged a bit, her eyes giving her away. Danny leaned in close over the counter and spoke in a volume he knew none of the others in the room would hear. "You a'right? You need me?"

Callie stared at him, her eyes boring holes into his for a good long time. There were a lot of things going through her mind at the moment. A lot of memories of a lot of horrid things, and Danny could probably tell that. The sight of her brother on that big screen, while comforting, was a harbinger of things to come. It served to remind her of one thing, and one thing only.

Someday, when she found him again, she was going to have to tell him what she'd done. She was going to have to explain how she'd put a bullet into the head of his wife and his children.

There were only two people in the world who knew what she'd done. Danny was one of them, and Daryl the other. But there was one big difference between the two men in regards to that horror. Daryl knew what had happened that day because she had told him. Danny knew because he'd been there.

Danny had helped her bury them.

Callie sucked in a deep breath through her clenched teeth, before licking her lips. Danny stared hard at her, his eyes slipping down to where her white knuckled fists were settled on the counter. The woman had been through so damn much in the past few days, he knew that if she were anyone else, she'd be a moment away from breaking.

But she wasn't anyone else. Wasn't anyone he'd ever met before. She was Callie fuckin' Marcus. She was a survivor. And in the blink of an eye she was smiling tightly and shaking her head at him, and he was left yet again to stare in a stupor of awe at the woman.

"You know, Danny-boy," Callie said turning away and moving to grab a few more bottles from the case. Her voice was thick with the emotion she'd just pressed to the back of her mind, but she cleared her throat and shook her head before she let it get the better of her. Her eyes looked to the glass refrigerator not far off and she turned back to him with a wide grin. "I have skills," she said causing him to bark out a laugh. It was an inside joke, one that had her grinning from ear to ear and him shaking his head. Danny turned to the table where the trio was now actively following her movements. She turned to them and smiled. "I do. I have skills that I haven't been able to actually use since this whole fucking apocalypse started."

"Is she gonna strip?" Glenn asked, his drunken brain contemplating that question as an actual possibility. His eyes slid to T-Dog who was shaking his head and waving a hand as he tried to choke down the sip of beer he'd just taken. "Are you gonna strip? You worked in a bar right?"

"The mouths of drunken babes," Danny said chuckling as he shook his head and pointed a finger at the grinning Glenn. Glenn shrugged as if saying 'I stand by that as a valid question', and Danny laughed.

"It wasn't that type of bar," Callie said chuckling and running her hands through her tangled hair. She shifted her eyes to Danny. "What you been tellin' these boys." Danny lifted his hands to the air and then stepped back. "Go get me some mixers, dumbass." Callie said dismissing the now chuckling Danny, who immediately departed for the refrigerator.

Callie shifted her eyes to the boys at the table, and settled her hands onto the counter. Her shoulder was throbbing a bit, but she was pushing past it. Because she needed this bit of fun. She needed to let her mind go back to a simpler time, because she knew, she could just fucking _feel_, that the simpler times were about to come to a stop completely. Shaking her head she lifted a finger.

"Y'all want to drink," Callie lifted a brow at the two that she knew were actually working to kill brain cells. T-Dog shook his head and saluted her with his obviously empty bottle of beer. "Then get your asses over here and let a master show you how it's done."

"Shit I feel like I should go wake up the rest of the fuckers that left this party early," Danny said sliding his gaze towards the door. He had a feeling that a certain pissy redneck was gonna be more than a little upset that he was missin' out on this shit.

"Don't you dare," Callie said lifting her finger and pointing at Danny, pinning him in place. "This shit is a private party. They want a drink, they know where to come."

And Danny just nodded. Understanding quite clearly that the 'they' she spoke of was Daryl and that Callie wouldn't really be able to work so well under that heated stare. Fuck, he'd felt himself gettin' a case of the fuckin' vapors sitting between the two of them at the dinner table. Sexual tension had a name, and it was Callie and Daryl.

Danny lifted his hands to the air and settled his ass near the counter, watching as Glenn and Miles practically fell forward into Callie's makeshift bar. The scene was so fuckin' brilliant in its odd nostalgic sense that he just couldn't let it go to waste. He patted T-Dog on the back quickly as the other man sidled up towards the 'bar' and lifted a single finger to Callie's questioning look.

"I gotta—" he shook his head and backed up towards the door. "Feel free to get started, but don't kill 'em just yet, Cal." With that Danny exited the cafeteria at a fast-paced trot of excitement and Callie shifted her humored gaze to the chuckling T-Dog.

"Okay," Callie said grabbing herself a beer and taking a long swig. T-Dog tipped is empty bottle back, and Callie gave him a nice big wink before taking another swig. "Y'all call 'em out. I'll line 'em up."

"You shootin' too?" Miles asked eyeing the arrangement of bottles in front of Callie. His body was slumped forward, his face damn near an inch from each bottle as he ran his gaze along counter. Callie let out a small chuckle at the boy which had him looking up.

"Sure," Callie said laughing as she tipped back her beer yet again catching T-Dog's eye. "Let me get my head ready for it though," she took another long swig and each of the boy's eyes followed the line of her throat as she drank. T-Dog was laughing heartily as he settled in at the counter and shook his head at Glenn and Miles as they grinned.

"This shit's gonna be good," T-Dog said tossing his gaze over his shoulder at the door. "Danny better hurry his ass up with that camera."

"A'right," Callie said settling her empty beer bottle next to another of the already empty bottles she's found near the sink. Tapping her fingers along the counter she shifted her eyes between the two drunks and smiled down at them. "Hit me."

"Sex on the beach," Glenn blurted out, and Callie and T-Dog groaned. "What?" Glenn said standing up to his full height and nearly falling over.

"Fuck me," Callie said rolling her eyes and running a tired hand down her face. "Never mind, I'll just make you what I fuckin' want to." She shook her head and took stock of the liquor before her. "Not quite everything I need," she said eyeing the bottle of Southern Comfort and Baileys, her fingers tapping along as she eyed the mixers Danny had brought over. "But we can make do. I think, yeah," she nodded looking up and leaning towards Glenn. "I think you boys could use an Attitude Adjustment."

* * *

"I think Glenn's officially shit-faced drunk now," Danny said between cackles of laughter as he watched the young Asian man show off his dance moves. "Give me that fuckin' camera." He swatted at the doubled over form of T-Dog, his fingers glancing off of the other man's shoulder.

Tears were fuckin' streaming down T-Dog's face as he struggled to lift his head and hand over the camera. Miles was sitting on the floor near the counter, while Callie was leaning over it looking down at the boy with a humored glance. Danny snatched the camera and snapped a shot. The sound of the Polaroid going off had Callie's gaze lifting from the boy laughing on the ground to the two sober men cracking up at the little table.

Danny shook out his photo, looked at it and belted out a few more loud laughs before settling the photo into the small stack he and T-Dog had created.

An hour, maybe a bit more, had elapsed at which point Callie's two empty beer bottles had miraculously refilled. The disgusting mix of shots that were settled in those two bottles now from her spitting them back in each time she 'chased her shot with a swig of imaginary beer' made her stomach clench. It was an old trick, one that her Uncle Tug had taught her when she first started tending bar. Legally at least.

She was twenty-four, and had just settled back home after trying her hand at having an actual life. And failing miserably. She had still been reeling a bit from that. That and the fact that Bobby had just left to go play best man to Denny, only two years after they- Callie shook her head. The image of Denny dead on the ground near that Army Jeep at that rest stop killed those thoughts cold. The memory of Uncle Tug's words, however, settled back in as she shifted her eyes over the bottles before her on the counter.

"_Little girls that look like you and tend bar, get the offer a lot more than old motherfuckers like me," Uncle Tug had said as he watched her slide her way around the back of the bar and get ready for her first official shift as manager of the place. He smiled at her when she turned to him and raised her brows in a 'no way' motion, before tossing her towel over her shoulder. He pointed a finger at the two bottles of beer he'd opened and poured down the sink earlier. "You get yourself good at that 'chaser trick' or you're gonna be flat on your ass before the night's over. Learn how to fool 'em all, Callie-girl. Make 'em think they're in charge. Make 'em tell you their life story whether they want to or not. Make 'em believe you care. Make 'em a shot, and take 'em for all that they've got."_

"_Honestly it's a wonder you're still in business, Tug." Callie had responded pointing a finger. "You are a sadistic sum'bitch." _

"_No honey, I just know the way this world works. You're gonna get to know it too," Tug said with a smile as he settled in closer and shifted his heavily browed eyes around at the few regulars already milling about. "The people that are tryin' to get you to take those shots ain't the type to be feeling bad when you get too drunk to think straight. They ain't the type that you should be feelin' bad 'bout teachin' a fuckin' lesson to either. There's a reason they're in here when they could be home sleepin' it off. Don't you let yourself get put into that position," He shook his head, leaving off the obvious word that had her frowning at her Uncle as she stopped before him. 'Again'. His eyes met hers, the bar settled between them as they entered into one of their notorious staring matches. "I'm gonna teach you this lesson, Callie-girl. You find a weakness in a bastard that's tryin' to get the best of you; you exploit it for all that its worth."_

Callie shook her head as her brow knit at that memory. She shifted her eyes around the room, and felt a bit bad for using her 'skills' to get the two kids currently bumping chests in front of her to get to this point. Danny caught her eye and she gave him a stilted sort of smile. Glenn slammed himself back into her makeshift bar and she leaned over onto her arms and smiled widely at his grinning face.

"What'll it be, sweetheart," Callie said as she lifted a brow while he wiggled his fingers over the bottles on the counter.

"I have no idea," Glenn said squinting at a bottle of Southern Comfort. "I can't even read anymore," Glenn said putting his fingers to the bottle and lifting it for closer inspection. Callie extricated the bottle and shook her head, slipping it over to the far side of the counter.

"That's reserved," Callie said giving him a smile.

"You gonna share it with Daryl," Glenn said in a sing-song voice, wiggling his brows at her, which caused another round of raucous laughter to fall from the table. Callie raised her brows at him and he leaned closer his voice lowering to a whisper. "I saw the way he was lookin' at you."

"Oh?" Callie said in a whisper as well, leaning forward and putting her face closer to Glenn's.

"Yeah," Glenn nodded and leaned in closer. Callie could smell the alcohol on his breath as it wafted over her face and she couldn't help but smirk a bit. Poor kid.

"How was he lookin' at me?" Callie lifted her brow and Glenn lifted a finger.

"Like a man lookin' at his last meal," Glenn said poking her nose and leaning closer. "He wants you." Glenn leaned in super close and Callie chuckled moving in just a bit more, his finger poked her nose again. "Wants you _bad_."

"Oh really?" Callie said sliding away from Glenn as he continued to try and poke at her nose. She twitched her nose and caught Danny and T-Dog's humored glances. Luckily Glenn's drunken rambling was a bit too low for them to hear, otherwise she was sure she wasn't ever gonna hear the end of it.

"Yep," Glenn said raising his hand to the sky and his voice along with it, sound of the popping 'p' echoing just a bit around the room. Callie winced a bit as she shifted her attention to the group at the table. She saw T-Dog getting to his feet, snatching back the camera from Danny's comical grip on it. Danny let the camera go with a flourish and went on to look at the stack of pictures he'd taken. "I know all about this. See, I'm the master."

"Shit," Callie said rubbing at the bridge of her nose as she stared at the teetering and grinning Glenn. She put her elbows to the counter and stared for a moment as his grin just got wider. "I can't not ask." Master of what?"

"I'm the master of the Looky-No-Touchy," Glenn said waving his arms as though he was ninja chopping the air between him and Callie. Callie let out a loud bark of a laugh, but covered her mouth before drunk-Glenn could really register it. Danny, T-Dog and Miles on the other hand let their laughter fly free. "I'm the master of the want but never pursue. The only one of my friends whose still a," he leaned in close to Callie and probably really thought he was whispering when he said, "_virgin_."

"No fuckin' way!" Miles shouted, his heavy drunken head lifting from where it had fallen on his chest to stare incredulously at Glenn. Glenn turned wide eyes to the table, only now registering that he'd said it loud enough for the others to hear. "You serious man? I even got my fuckin' cherry popped."

"What?!" Danny sputtered, while Callie threw both of her hands in the air. "What?"

"What can I say," Miles shrugged and looked at each person in turn. "Prom was good to me."

"Fuck that's sad," Glenn said, his head hanging low. Callie reached over and gave him a pat on the shoulder, which had Glenn's red rimmed drunken eyes lifting to her. She slid away from her makeshift bar at that point, missing the look on that passed over Glenn's face.

"On that very disillusioning note," Callie said spearing the smug looking teenager on the floor with a half-hearted chastising look.

"You know what!?" Glenn said turning and causing Callie to stop mid-step, leaving her statement go unfinished. She half-turned to face the drunken kid teetering closer to her, and raised an amused brow. "That's just fuckin' it," Glenn said pointing a finger to Miles who cracked a wide grin at Glenn and lifted a stiff middle finger. "Seriously, this is the end of the world right?" He was looking at Callie and she was just kind of frozen in shock as she stared at him, her head nodded and he nodded back. "So I don't have to be that guy anymore. I don't have to be the nice guy. The guy that looks but doesn't touch."

"Oh boy," Danny said laughing as he kicked his feet up onto the table and leaned back precariously in his chair. "Here comes something good," he said turning his eyes to T-Dog standing across the room with the camera poised at Glenn. "I can feel it."

"Okay," Callie said raising her hands to the air and turning her back on drunken yelling Glenn. "I'm gonna go try and get some of that rest now."

"Honest to God," Glenn said taking a few steps forward his eyes following Callie's backside, much to Danny's utter amusement. "If that dumbass redneck is too stupid to make a move then that's his fault." And with that Glenn raised his hand back and did the utterly unthinkable.

The sound of Glenn's hand loudly clapping onto Callie's ass echoed almost as loudly as the sound of the Polaroid being processed. Which was all drowned out by the booming laughs of the three men, and Danny's chair hitting the ground with a resounding crash.

Glenn's hand stayed on Callie's backside long enough to give a _very_ firm, _very_ friendly squeeze. Callie's wide-eyed stare shot over her shoulder, whipping her head around to stare at the grinning Glenn. Callie's mouth opened, her eyes shifting back to Danny laughing as he tried to roll onto his side and off of his fallen chair, then back to Glenn. Miles was fucking snorting he was laughing so hard his hand held high in the air just waiting and T-Dog had disappeared from view, the only thing visible his large hand as it whacked repeatedly at the table he was crouched down behind.

"That's your fucking _move_!" Callie shouted back at the kid who was still grinning as he settled his backside to the counter. The kid looked smug as he crossed his arms over his chest and dipped his head in a bit of an assessing look that encompassed Callie's entire body.

"That's the fuckin' master at work!" Danny shouted as he slowly worked his way to his feet, his fingers pointing at smug drunken Glenn. T-Dog's large hands pounded harder on the table and Callie shot them both a look as she made her way towards the door.

"Holy fuck. Cut off," Callie said throwing her hands into the air. "You hear me. Cut the fuck off." Callie worked her way towards the door. "Fuckin' master. Making a fuckin' move. Lucky I don't have my god damned gun on me, grabbing my ass like that, Chinaman."

The last thing Callie heard as she left the room was the sound of Glenn's hand smacking hard into Miles'.

When Callie came back later, each and every one of the four sitting at that table-drunk or not-could see that she was struggling with something. The incident with Glenn the furthest thing from her mind as she slipped past them and stared at the bottles on the counter. Her eyes lifted briefly from the counter when she apparently noticed the missing reserved bottle of Southern Comfort. Her eyes caught Daryl's briefly before she grabbed her bottle of wine and glass and moved towards another table.

It was even later than that, when Danny had been heading towards the showers after his incident with Andrea, that he spotted Glenn stumbling out of the cafeteria. He ran into Dale, who had shot Danny a look when the kid asked where he was. Danny shook his head and pointed his finger down the hall the other way, where he knew Callie had disappeared to. Dale shook his head but pointed Glenn in the wrong direction. Sending Glenn stumbling in to a room where Daryl was making his own fuckin' move.

The next morning, Glenn had grabbed T-Dog and frantically shook him as he pushed his way into his room. Head pounding, eyes blurry, stomach revolting as he moved hurried through the small room.

"The fuck you want?" T-Dog said, rubbing at his bleary eyes and watching in horror as Glenn tore through his belongings.

"I need that picture," Glenn said in return tossing more of T-Dog's stuff around. T-Dog shook his head at the hung-over kid and was startled when Glenn grabbed him by his shirt and roughly pulled him right up to his face. "He's gonna kill me."

But that photo, as well as the rest of the stack from that night, well it was strange. They just disappeared. Danny always thought that Glenn and maybe Miles had gotten to them, and that together the men destroyed any reminders of that night. It wasn't until many years later that they were dug out by a certain dumbass redneck's boy and used as a good bit of blackmail against the two men.

_AN: Honestly I've got no clue where these are coming from anymore. I think this is my brain saying… take a break from all the crazy SADS you been writing. I can only hope y'all enjoyed!_


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